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THE

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
DECAMERON.

' Now praj' I to hem alle that berkene this tretyse or rede, that yf ther be
oiiy thing that iiketh hem, that therof they thanke'HiM of whom procedeth al
wit and goodne§. And yf ther be ony thing that displese hem, I praye hem
also that they arrette it to the defaute of myn unkonnyug and not to my will,
that wold fayn have se^de better if I liadde knowing.'

Chaucer.

THE

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL

DECAMERON;

OR,

%tn Ba^s pleasant discourse

UPON

ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS,

AND

SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH

EARLY ENGRAVING, TYPOGRAPHY,
AND BIBLIOGRAPHY.

BY THE

REV. T. F. DIBDIN.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY W. BULMER AND CO.

AND SOLD BY G. AND W. NICOL, PAYNE AND EOSS, EVANS, JOHN AND
ARTHUR AKCH, TRIPHOOK, AND J. MAJOR.

1817.

Gtny CENTER Lmm

FIFTH DAY.

VOL. II.

ARGUMENT.

Progress of Printing" in Germany aiid Italy continued.
Rise and Progress of Printing in France ; at Paris ; at
Rouen ; at Lyons ; at Antwerp, and other Places in the
L&w Countries. Progress qf Printing at Venice : theAldine
Press, the Presses qf the Giunti, the Sessce, and Gioliti, 8fc.
The Presses qf Frohen, Oporinus, i^c. at Basil. Portraits
qf Printers. Introduction of Title-Pages; simple and
decorative.

ififti) Bap.

ET us now resume our typo-
graphical journey. Symptoms of
ennui were however occasionally
manifested, on the part of the
ladies, during the discourse of
yesterday ; and I thought I more
than once discovered an inclina-
tion, on the part of Lisardo, to
ibreak the chain of enquiry and research. His impatience
will, I trust, be somewhat regulated and subdued during
the discussion of to-day ; for we have a world of variety to
unfold — and I should be loth to let the effect of my exer-
tions be lost by any premature effort to give them an
improper direction. So prepare, my worthy friends, to hear
of learned and laborious printers, who filled the world with
their praises as well as their books ; Avho devoted even theix
midnight vigils to give permanency to their works ; and
who, discarding the filthy attractions of mere lucre, directed
all their energies as well for the benefit of mankind as of

. k iAmIIi ■liHt''ii iMIii )-«ar«

FIFTH DAY.

their families. Yes, brave spirits of the immortal dead !. . of
Aldus, of Froben, of Oporinus, of the Stephens, and
of Plantin ! — methinks I see you, (tho"* it be day-light —
and Addison never heard of a morning ghost) hovering
over me at this instant, and encouraging me with smiles of
more than mortal expression ! I see the adamantine column
to which your eyes and hands are occasionally directed, and
where your names are inscribed upon scrolls wrought in
porphyry which defies decay ! . . . I obey with promptitude
your high behest —

LiSARDO. If this be not bibliographical inspiration, tell
me, I pray, in what that species of inspiration consists ? I
crave pardon for past impatience, and will cease to interrupt
in future. But remember Devices * . . the Devices of those

* remember Devices.'] The unknowing in the learning of devices, may read with
pleasure and instruction the lit tle quarto volume of Spoerlius, published in 1730,
under the title of ' Introductio in Notitiam Insigniitm Typographicorum.' Was it,
or was it not, preceded by Draudius's ' Discursus typographicns eiperimentalis, &c.
cum indguibus pnecipuorum typographorim, qiicujrontispiciis lihrorum imp-imere
consueverunt,' Fi-diicof. 1625. 8vo.? Spoerlius denies its existence; and thinks
* the glory of having first collected the devices of piinters,' is due to Roth-
SchoUzius — not forgetting, however, the specimens of this kind, few in number,
which were exhibited in Orlandi's feeble performance, entitled ' Origine e
Progressi della Stampa o siu dell' Arte Impressm-ia,' 1722, 4to. Baiilet had only
described a few of them without fac-similes ; and it must be remembered that
the fac-similes both of Orlandi and of Scholtz are on a reduced scale. Spoerlius
notices the extraordinary collection of this kind which was in the possession of a
Nuremberg physician of the name of Roctenbecius ; and we may plume ourselves
on the not less extensive similar collection of John Bagford in the British
Museum. ' Mult um (says Spoerlius, not untruly) juvat hominem Uteris deditum,
libros quoscunque hujus vel illius officinae a se invicem dignoscere posse, Itaque
notas variarum officinarum nosse opus est . . . Cum itaque typographi peculiares
notas sui characteristicas operibus suis imprimi curaverint, tester heic omnes
ingenues homines, annon ii laudem et bonam gratiam mereantur, qui colligendis
his notis tempus suum studiuraque commodant? maxime cum nonnisi summo cum
labore ex innumeris codicibus colh'gi possint,' p, 13-15.

I may here borrow the emphatic invocation of Spoerlius. ' Hue ergo adeste,
qui notitise librorum studetis acquirenda;, et opes iugeniorum in tot diversissima

FIFTH DAY.

typographical heroes with whom you have just held such
aerial converse —

Lysander. Your words betray or misinterpret your in-
tentions. Here is an interruption at the very outset. But
I can forgive you. Yes, Lisardo shall have all his devices,
and shields, and symbols, and the decorative accompani-
ments of the art of printing ... at least, he shall have a
reasonable measure of such ornaments — for an Atlas folio
would not contain them all.

Lisardo. 'Tis well. I obey ; and anticipate with delight
all the marvellous intelligence which you are about to
unfold.

Belinda. Whatever symptoms of ennui might have been
discoverable yesterday, on the part of our frail sex, I can
pretty safely affirm, for Almansa as well as myself, that the
sight of all those shields, or marks, or devices, which is pro-
mised us by my well-beloved husband, will fully prevent
the occurrence of the least portion of nonchalance to day.
So pray proceed, my dearest Lysander. Our thankfulness
shall keep pace with your endeavours to amuse and instruct.

Lysander. Such encouragement is irresistible, and I
proceed to do my best. If I remember rightly, we con-
cluded with giving the finish to an account of early printing
in Germany and in Italy ; yet I can almost reproach myself
for having omitted to notice two very rare and very ancient
German printers, who worked in partnership, and with

volumina dispersas, et bonorura librorum characteres, uno quasi oculL obtutu
dignoscere addiscite. Quod vinum vendibile sit, ex hedera appensa . . . jam
intelligere potestis,' p. 15 : and further observe— what T believe is not appHcable
to the labours of my predecessors— that the fac-simhes of the devices, which
the reader is here about to see, are, in truth, conformable to the exact meaning
and application of the foregoing appellation : in other words, they are, in every
respect, conformable to their originals.

FIFTH DAY.

whom I have but lately cultivated an acquamtance. Listen
to their harmonious appellatives! Christopher Bey am
and John Glim.*

Almansa. Frightful beyond compare ! In what does
the merit of their printing consist ?

Ly SANDER. In having executed works of an early date.
Among them is a Boethius of 1470, and a Manipulus
Curatorum, without date, but probably not a twelvemonth
later, and the first impression of that once popular work.

* Christopher Beyam and John Glim.] The very rare book, in which the asso-
ciated names of these printers appear, is the Manipulus Curatorum of Guido de
Monte Rocherii ; witliout date, in folio : but supposed by the conn)iler of the
Bologna -Crevenna Catalogue, (vol. i. no. 563) to be the first impression of that
once popular work. It is probably executed before the edition of 1476, by
Caesaris and Stol, and is considered to have a number of variations as well as an
additional chapter ; but upon what authority Vemazza, in his Lezione sopra la
stampa, CagUari, 1778, 8vo. (as referred to by Denis, p. 621, and Panzer,
vol. iii. p. 4) attributes the execution of it to the Seville press, in the year 1470,
is utterly inconceivable. Neither Caballerus, in his Specimen de Prima Typo-
graphi(r Hispanicee Mtate, nor Lichtenberger, make the least mention of such an
early specimen of the Spanish press. The book in question has been recently
obtained by Lord Spencer, from Count Delci ; and is a folio, printed in long
lines, without numerals or catchwords, having 34 lines in a full page. The
colophon is thus — on the reverse of the 136th and last leaf : beneath the words
Deo. Gractas.

Hoc beyamus opus pressit Christoforus altum.
Imraensis titulis estat origo sua.
Cui Glim cosocius clara fuit arte lohannes
Germanam gentem : non negat esse suam

The type is uniformly ronian, except the d ; which is a sharp gothic letter.
There are titles to the several sections, chiefly in ronian capitals; and the smaller
roman letter may be considered as approximating to that of G unther Zainer, and
the Fivizani — the latter, from their Virgil of 1472 — also recently acquired by his
Lordship. But the Boethius of 1470, by Glim alone, (1 believe) is on its route
to the library of the same Noble Collector. An ancient ms. note, at the end of
the copy of the Manipulus, &c. says, ' duesto e un libro hello :' but since the
time of such inscription the worms have unluckily become enamoured of its
' beauty,' and have left behind too many proofs of their attachment !

FIFTH DAY,

Before ho^vever I bid adieu to Germany, let me entreat
you always to pay marks of attention and respect to the
productions of the first Printer at Nuremb'^rg — Anthony
KoBUEGER : a noble fellow in his way,* and diligent almost
beyond competition. His volumes are remarkable for their
dimensions, and his ample margins betray a thoroughly well
cultivated taste respecting the management of those impor-
tant features in a book — hlach and white.

* Anthony Koburger — a noble fellow in his way,'] It may be questioned
however whether Koburger, Koberger, or Coburger, (for his name is spelt each
way) be the first printer at Nuremberg ; as the earliest Nuremberg book, with
a date, (the ' Comestorium Vitiorum ' of Retza, of the date of 1470, see Bibl.
Spenceriana, vol. iii. p. 489) is attributed to the press of Creussner ; and it
should seem, fiom the Typographical Annals of Panzer, (vol. ii. p. 167) that
Sensenschmid and Kefer also preceded Koberger. However, this latter printer
may be considered as taking the lead of all his Nuremberg brethi en of the matrix,
and his works fully merit the encomium pronounced upon them by Lysander.
Mallinkrot (p. 87) has not only himself called Koberger ' inter reliquos . . .
facile princeps . . qui seuo suo non illius modo vrbis (Noribergse), sed totius
Germanise Typographorum et Bibliopolarum . . . prsecipuus fuit, quod plurima et
insignia ab ipso impressa et distracta volumina abunde testantur' — but has
directed our attention to the eulogies of a most competent judge, and contem-
porary, Jodocus Badius Ascensius; who dedicated a Collection of Epistles of
Eminent Men, in 1499, folio, to this very renowned typographer. The language
of Ascensius is too delightful in itself, and too congenial with my own feelings, to
be here suppressed — as I find it in Maittaire, vol. i. p. 79, edit, 1719. After
calling him ' Antonius suavissimus,' he goes on thus : ' Si quidem cum sis Librario-
rum facile pruiceps et inter fideles atque honestos mercatores non mferiori loco
positus ; nihil principatu tuo diguius censeam, quam hos tantos heroas in regales
istos tlialamos, omnis honestatis ac probitatis nimirum penetralia, begnissirae

suscipere Litteratos omnes et colis et foves ; pervigilemque curam ad bonos

Codices vere, terse, ac sine mendis imprimendos adhibes,' &c. ' Ex his (adds
Maittaire) Badii verbis licet aestiraare quantum fuerit Antonii Koburger inter
ejus 6[^0TS)(y0US raeritum.'

According to the testimony of Neudoerferus, Koburger had not only 24
presses at work, and more than 100 workmen, at Nuremberg, but he was
engaged in printing at Basil and Lyons, and had a book-selling establishment at
other cities as well as at Nuremberg. Lichtenberger, Initia. Typog. p. 199. He
certainly printed the Alcinoi Epitoina Disciplinunim Platonis in the year
1472 ; omitted to be mentioned in the work first above referred to : but see

FIFTH DAY.

Lorenzo. Have you not some other favourite places or
printers to notice, before you take us into the Land of
Devices — France, and the Netherlands, &c.?

Lysander. I shall quickly prove to you that devices
did not take their origin in France, however they may have
been chiefly exhibited in that country. Yes . . the question
of our Host is both opportune and judicious: for let me
conduct you, in imagination, as mourners to the burying
place of poor Ferandus, of Brescia* — the printer of the

Panzer, vol. ii. p. 169, no. 10. The Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, both
in Latin and in German, is probably the ' magnum opus ' of Koburger ; and
however I may have been criticised and scolded for the unwieldiness of the
article, which comprises a description of that stupendous tome, I shall, with
Mallinkrot on my side, and with the characteristic obstinacy of an enthusiast,
continue to think that neither labour nor expense were thrown away upon it.

* the burying place of pom- Ferandus, of Brescia.'] Ferandus was the earliest
printer at Bhescia ; and although Cardinal Quirini has devoted a pretty sub-
stantial quarto tome to the History of Brescia Literature, 1739, and has described
at large the earlier editions of the Roman poets which were printed there,
he has wholly omitted the name of Ferandus, and of course of the Lucretius,
Juvenal, and Cecco d'Ascoli, printed by the same artist. Mauro Boni, however,
■with more fortunate sources of intelligence, has done ample justice to our Ferandus;
observing ' L' uomo benemerito che vi eresse i primi Torchi fu Tommaso
Fehrando zelante Cittadino, e non ignobile letterato, come fan fede I'edizioni
da lui eseguite, e qualche operetta da lui medesimo composta, che leggesi a
stampa.' Ptimi Libri a Stampa, ^c. dell' Italia Supenore,\ enez. 1794, p. Lxxm.
cvi. The noble sentiments of Ferandus — who professes .his ' attachment to his
Country next to his God' — and his correct estimation of the right use of wealth
and literary application — are seen in more than one of the colophons of the
Brescia Statutes, printed by him in 1473 : vide Bibl. Spencer, vol. iv. p. 18-21 :
although the last of these colophons affords a presentiment of that misery, and
failure in business, which afterwards overtook him, and which caused his desertion
of his country. The Cecco d' Ascoli and Lucretius are the rarest pieces of
Ferandus ; and both are to be found in the most desirable condition in the library
of Earl Spencer. It must be admitted, however, that the type and press-work
of Ferandus were little calculated to please a fastidious reader — who had been
accustomed to the beautiful productions of other Italian cities. A brochure, of
some 50 pages, might be well devoted to the name and merits of Ferandus.
I conceive his private history to have been exceedingly interesting ; and I feel
every possible degree of inclination to become one of the above ' mourners,' and to
' drop a tear upon the grave of poor Ferandus.'

FIFTH DAY.

First Lucretius, and of several other works of nearly equal
rarity and value. Drop a tear upon his grave, for he died
broken-hearted at the ungrateful treatment of his country-
men ! Yet his name shall live ' for aye ' in the annals of
that immortal art which he practised with so much credit to
himself and benefit to literature. I could, to be sure, dwell
also somewhat upon early Ferrara printers — and upon the
marvellous feats of ' THE Boy Carnerius* — but there is
really no time for the indulgence of such dehghtful episodes.

Lorenzo. Bid adieu then to Germany and Italy, and
take up the History of Printing in France, the Low
Countries, and United Provinces, &c.

Lisardo. I crave pardon; but you know what an
irritable temperament I possess. Tell us, I pray, dear
Lysander — ^before you bid adieu to Germany and Italy —
in what country did Devices make their first appearance ?
in other words, where did printers first use those symbols,
marks, or shields, which have been just alluded to?

Lorenzo. I will satisfy you as well as I am able. I told
you, if you remember, that the earliest appearance of such
printer's mark, or device, was in the Bible of Fust and
Schoifi'her, of the date of 1462; which device consisted of

* the hoy Camcrius.'] In strict designation, tlie boy 'Augustinus Carnehius
see the colophon to the Epistles and Odes of Horace, printed by Carnerius iu
1474: Bibl. Spencer, vol. ii. p. 75-7. Andreas Bellfortis, Gallus, has
however the glorious distinction of having put the^rst Ferrara press in motion-
yet, as his name imports, he was a Frenchman by birth. In the colophon to the
Augustinus Dattus, of 1471, (his second production) he thus designates himself:
Impress! Andreas hoc opus, cui francia noraen

Tradidit. at ciuis ferrariensis ego.
Herculeo felix ferraria tuta manebat
Numine : perfectus cum iste liber fuit.
' Ergo (adds Panzer) per Andream Bellfortis, Galium.' See his Annul. Typog.
vol. i. p. 393, no. 2. The Martial of Gallus, (his earliest work) is fully described
in the Bibl. Spencer, vol. ii, p. 169.

FIFTH DAY.

two shields, in red or in black, that were used even as late
as 1531.* Meanwhile, however, the Emperor Maximilian
had granted to John SchoifFher (son of Peter) a coat of
arms, incorporating, in part, the device of his father, which
is thus appended to a variety of John Schoiffher's publica-
tions, from the year 1530 to 1540: if not before.

The example of Fust and Schoiffher was not immediately
followed by the typographical corps in Germany. Indeed,
Ulric Zel, the next German printer in point of antiquity,

* So it appears in Bagford's Collection. Mercier had never seen it later than
1525. Consult the note in vol. i. page 343.

t his own name, which, in German, signifies a sliepherd.1 The first thing, on
looking at the above figure, which strikes a graphical antiquary, is, its resemblance
to the following figure, in one of the wood-cuts of Albert Duber, introduced in

riFTH DAY.

whom you may remember to have been designated as the
* Father of the Cologne press," wholly discarded a device ;

the back-ground, in a print of the annunciBtion of the Nativity of Christ to the
shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. Take away the staiF of the
former, and you liave nearly the same figure. I make no doubt but that John
Schoiffher copied Albert Durer.

In some of the smaller pieces of J. Schoiffher we have the same subject treated
en petite;— as thus, at the bottom of an elegant border in the title page of
'Encomium Matrimonii. Encomium Ariis Medicae. Per D. E. Mogunt,' 1522, 12mo.

FIFTH DAY.

for what reason is not easily to be imagined. A Cologne
printer, however, of the name of Boengart, exhibited an,

There are sundry varieties of the Schoiffheb device. Thus, keeping to the
above design, Marchand gives us the following :

Peter Schoiff her (the son of Fust's partner) chose to deviate somewhat from the
family device, by turning the stars into roses, thus :

FIFTH DAY.

early deviation from the sullen rule laid down by Zel ; for,
at the end of a small Latin tract entitled a ' Fruitful Pre-
paration for a Christian Man on his Death Bed,' of the

The preceding belongs to a book of great beauty of typographical execution, and
of rare occurrence, entitled ' De dulcissimo Nomine Jesu,' dfC. 1318, folio : to be
noticed in a subsequent page. All the books of P. Schoiif her, junr. are scarce.

Let me further add about the distinguished family of the Schoiffhers, that
John Schoiffher, son of the preceding, and grandson of the great Peter, quitted
Mentz, and established a printing office at Bois Le Due in Brabant : in the street
of ' the Great Church,' at the sign of the Missal, and (says Marchaud) his
descendants have occupied the premises ever since. ' He printed (continues the
same amusing author) several books there, of which none are at present known ;
and, dying in that town, was buried in the Cathedral Church of St. John. The
States General granted him a monument in 1629 ; consisting of a sort of tablet,
shutting as it were with double doors, upon one of which is the figure of the
printer, upon his knees, dressed in the manner of the times, and having his coat
of arms near him, thus — with the subjoined mscription :

John Scheffer, Printer, died the 12th of March, 1565; and
Anne, his wife (Daughter of John Bottelmans) died
the 14th of March, 1587, &c.

This John had, again, a son of his own Christian name ; who became Royal
Printer under Philip Ilnd of Spain. Marchand has a pithy memorandum relating
to him ; at page 51 of his Histoire de I'Imprimerie. He died in June, 1614 ; and
with his wife, Elizabeth Van be Hoek, was buried in the Cathedral where
his father and mother had been interred. I shall conclude this Schoiffher article
with the epigram of Naude (from his second book of Epigrams, printed by S. and
B. Cramoisy in 1650, 8vo. p. 52) upon the water-mark of the Bull's Head and
Horns, as seen in the paper of the earlier publications of the Mentz Pbess :

Ratio cognoscendi Libros editos a Joanne Fausto
MoGUNTiNO, inter Artis ab ipso primum
inventas 6^ excultae rudimenta

His duo si nescis teneris impressa papyris,

Artificum signo, Vitulinae comua frontis ;

FIFTH DAY.

printed date of 1472,* we observe the following barbarous
and singular device: partly imitated, however, by subse-
quent printers.

The Device of Herman Boengart.

Grandia Chalcograplii referunt miracula Fausti,
Qui primus calamis Libros transcripsit alienis,
Atque sua terris mirum decus intulit Arte.
See Maittaire's Annal. Typog. edit. 1719, p. 23. They are not, however, invariably
correct criteria of the early Mentz press. Marchand brings the genealogy of the
ScHEFFERS dowD to the year 1720. It is a name justly held in the greatest
possible respect.

* of the printed date of The colophon is thus : ' hnp-essum Colonic per

me Hermannii Boigart deket wich ciui: ColonieTi super antiquu forum in opposite

FIFTH DAY.

The earlier Venetian printers seemed also to have objec-
tions to devices ; for I meet with few or none before those of
John of Cologne, and Octavian Scot. That of the for-
mer, to the best of my recollection, is at the end of an
impression of the New Testament, with the Commentary of
Nicolas deLyra, of the date of 1481, in folio;* while that

sancti Martini maioris. p)-oprie tzo den Wylden man. 1472.' The book has
signatures throughout ; and I suspect there must be some en-or in the date, as
the type is quite of a late character, and there are printed notes in the margin.
Beneath a rude wood-cut, in the frontispiece, there is the title of ' Peter
de Blois' exposition of the Book of Job, dedicated to the illustrious King
Henry of England.' The Latin title to the book, now under description, is
' Preparamentum Saluberrimum Christiani Hominis ad mortem se disponentis, quod
collegit Honorabilis vir Magister Wilhelmus Tzewers sacre theologie Doctm- eximius.
ac deifere Marie canonicus in maiori ecclesia. regie sedis Aquisgrani,' 4to. It
contains P, in fours, with a running title as far as ' Alphabetum xiiij.' In the
possession of the Rev. I. M. Rice. The lapse of a century introduced a much
purer taste in the style of art observable in the devices, or ffpntispiece-decorations,
of the Cologne Books :-r-as the following, taken from the ' SummariaBescriptio
CoUoquii inter Casparum Vlenbergiiim et Joannem Badium, ^c. Apud Gervinum
Caleniiim et hwredes Quentetios,' Colon. 1590, 4to. may satisfactorily shew.

The same printers used also a fine head of Christ, in profile ; as may be seen
in the Partes Catechismi Catholici of the date of 1 568, folio. (Bagford's Collection,
Harl. MSS. no. 5914, fol. 53.)

* an impression of the New Testament, with the Commentary of Nicolas de Lyra,
of the date of 1481, in folio.'] Some mention (see vol. i. p. 403) has been already
made of this impression as exhibiting a testimony of the partnership of Jenson

16 FIFTH DAY.

of the latter is at the end of an impression of the same work,
of the date of 1489. These devices are both executed in red
ink, as you will see from the following specimens of them :

The Device of John de Colonia,

IN CONJUNCTION WITH NiCOLAS JeNSON.

and I. de Colonia. The New Testament (once in my possession) is only the 4th
and last volume of an impression of the Bible, with De Lyra's commentaiy ; and is
fully described in Masch's edition of Le Long's Bill. Sacra, vol. iii. p, 373. The
colophon runs thus : ' Exactum est Venetiis insigne hoc opus : ac inusitatum
opus biblie una cum postillis ueneiandi uiri ordinis minorum fratris Nicolai
de lyra: cumque additionibus per uenerabilem episcopum paulum burgensem

FIFTH DAY.

The Device op Octavianus Scotus
of monsa in the milanese.

editis : ac replicis Mathie doringk ordinis minorum fratris et theologi optimi :
charactere vero ipressum habes iucuudissimo : impensaque : curaque singular!
optimorum lohannis de colonia Nicolai ienson: sociorumq;: Olympiadibus
dominicis : anno milesimo quadringentesimo octnagesimo primo pridie calendas
sextiles.' The device above given is at the end of the register, on the last
leaf. The interminable commentaries of old Lyra seem to have constantly

FIFTH DAY.

Nor should I omit this opportunity of begging of you to
hold the name of Octavian Scot in respectful remembrance ;
for although a later printer, and of less popularity, than
John de Colonia, he was a man to whom the city of Venice
(where he printed) Avas deeply indebted;* as well for his
love and patronage of learning, as for the number and value

occupied the presses of the more ancient printers. An editor (whose name I
have forgotten, but who was about to publish the Lyra Gloss in the xvth century)
has this pithy notice respecting the deficiency of paper sufficiently large for such
a work : ' Hoc certe tempore sudanti satis mihi in inniienso Nicolai de Lyra super
ueteris et novi testaraenti ad litteram glossemate : ab impressoribus nostris que
biblie libi os informabant : repente effiagitatus sum ut' quoniam carta maior iilos
defecerat : ne officinse eorum uacarent : quod nunquam fit absque uigenti artis
dispendio : aliquod minoris voluminis opus iilis commodum expedirem.'

* a man to whom the city of Venice was deeply indebted.'] ' To no one was the
city of Venice more bound in gratitude, than to Octavian Scot ; of noble birth,
and born in tiie town of Monsa under the jurisdiction of Milan. Establishing
himself at Venice, he devoted so much of his wealth to tlie promotion of printing,
that a prodigious number of editions, bearing both his name and device, seemed to
indicate a new emporium, as it were, of printed books ; and gave ample testimony,
from the first productL-n of his press in 1480, [a Latin Bible of that date in 4to.
see Masch'sLe Long, vol. iii. p. 128] to the close of the xvth century, with what
energy and liberaUty he pursued his laudable career.' Saxius, Hist. Lit. Typog.
MedioL p. cxiii. Saxius then quotes the testimony of Maittaire {edit. 1719,
p. 139) in pi-aise of Scot ; followed by similar testimonies from La Caille and
Chevillier. ' I must further observe (adds he) in order to make a deeper
impression upon grateful minds, that, even after tlie decease of Octavian, about
the year 1500, liis noble spirit survived to enrich the favourite spot of his resi-
dence ; for he bequeathed not only his property, but the materials of liis press,
for the benefit of \ enice. Many books, even as late as the year 1530, aiford
proof of being executed ' by the command and at the expense of the heirs of the
distinguished Octavian Scot, a Citizen of Monsa' — with his device subjoined.

I may just notice that the device above given, is taken from the ivth and last
volume ot an impression of the Latin Bible, with she Connnentary of Nicolas de
Lyra, of the date of 1489, in folio : ' Uenctijs o, ere el sumptibus Octauiani Scoti
Modoetiisis . m . cccc . lxxxix . Sexto Id^ sextilis.' It is at the end ol the register,
on the recto of the following and last leaf. J he impression is beautilully executed
in black letter; and jVlasch tells thut it is formed, ' according to the edition of
1485, by Paganinus de Paganino,' Le Long's Bibl. Sacra, vol. iii. p. 378. I have
seen (I think) three specimens of a similar device, on a smaller scale, but executed
in black. Octavian's son or nephew, Jerom Scot, used the device of an anchor,'

FIFTH DAY.

li)

of his typographical productions. We will now return, if
you please, to the proposition of Lorenzo, respectir.g the
history of printing in France, in the Low Countries, and
United Provinces, &c.

As to the first, the diligent and patriotic Chevillier hath
filled a comely quarto tome with the ' O rig-in of Printing"
at Paris.''* His work is curious and interesting; but as
the author of it was early ' a-field' in the subject of which he
treats, it would follow that many early printed works have
escaped him, and that a few inaccuracies, corrected by the
more fortunate researches of subsequent bibhographers,
must necessarily mark that production. Yet I know not,
upon the whole, where there is a more entertaining quarto
volume upon printing than the one which we possess from
Chevillier. Let us gossip therefore awhile about early
Parisian printers, leaning upon the arm of that said typogra-
phical historian. And first, my friends, how comes it to

sometimes (but smaller) with three flukes, between trees ; having, linked together,
at bottom, the initials S 0 S j and, above, the following motto : ' In Tenebris
Fulget,' But one of the most elegant devices used by him, or indeed by any
other printer, is that of a female sitting upon a celestial globe ; holding an olive
branch in her right hand, and a line and plummet in her left : above, is the

motto ' FIAT PAX IN VIRTUTE TVA.'

* Origin of Printing at Paris.^ Chevillier's book is divided into the following
four parts : i. Etablissement de I'Imprimerie qui fut fait par des Gens de I'Uni-
versite, c'est-a-dire, par les soins de la Soci^t6 de Sorbonne ; avec I'histoire d' Ulric
Gering le premier Imprimeur de Paris, ii. Reflections sur les Livres imprimez
par Gering, et quelques Remarques curieuses touchant les Imprimeurs, et sur la
matiere d'Iraprimerie. iii. L'origine de I'lmpression Grecque et H6braique, qui
fut ^tablie a Paris par le soin des Professeurs de I'Universite. vi. Les droits que
I'Universite a eus sur la Librairie de Paris, devant et apres la decouverte de
I'Imprimerie. Par le Sieur Andre Chevillier, Docteur et Bibliotliecaire de la
Maison et Society de Sorbonne, 1694, 4to. I have before noticed {Bibliomania,
p. 63,) the ' foxy ' tint of almost all the copies of this work. By the kindness of
my friend Mr. Bolland, I am in possession of a copy, printed upon what I conceive
to be^ne paper : — it is in its original red-morocco binding, with gilt on the leaves ;
and together with a similar copy of La Caille (from the same friendly quarter)
was, I apprehend, originally, a presentation copy.

VOL. II. C

FIFTH DAY.

pass, that that cunning knight of the puncheon, Nicolas
Jenson, a Frenchman by birth, did not, after he had made
himself master of the ' art and craft of printing ' at Mentz,
or at Rome,* (be it where you please) return to his native
soil, and practise the art which he had so successfully
learnt ? It is a little singular and inconceivable, that, while
a Frenchman of ability leaves his country to establish him-
self at Venice, a German Firm, of the names of Gering,^
Crantz, and Friburger, comes to set up the first
printing press at Paris, in the House of the Sorbonne l-f

* See vol. i, p. 398.

t Jirst pnuting-press at Paris, in the House of the Sorbonne.^ The patrons of the
first prmters at Paris were Fichetus and Lapidanus ; or, as CheviUier calls
them, ' Guillaume Fichet Savoyard ' and ' Jean Heynlin de Lapierre AUemand.*
Gaguinus and Trithemius (and I dare say Baillet and Fabricius to boot) are loud
and uniform in their attestations of the literary merit of Fichetus, — ' the restorer
of pure Roman latinity.' Fichetus and Lapidanus established a press in the
House of the Sorbonne, or Sorbonne Academy, of which they were the heads or
directors ; and the latter invited thither his German countrymen, Ulric Gering,
Michael Feiburgeb, and Martin Crantz ; as appears unequivocally from
the letter of Fichetus, prefixed to the supposed first production of the
Parisian press (' the Epistles of Gasparinus Pergamensis ') given at
length by Chevillier, p. 40-1, and extracted in part by Maittaire, vol. i. p. 25,
and Lichtenberger, p. 205-6.

This prefatory epistle of Fichetus is perhaps sufficiently interesting to have the
greater part of it introduced to the reader in an English dress.

Fichetus to Lapidanus.
You have lately sent me, my dear Lapidanus, the delightful Epistles of
Gasparinus Pergamensis ; not only carefully corrected by yourself, but executed
in a neat and elegant manner by your German printers. Gasparinus is much
indebted to you ; since, from your unremitting attention, you have restored to
him his legitimate text. All learned men, however, owe you greater obligations ;
as it is evident that you are not only intent upon your theological studies,
but meditate the glorious task of restoring Latin writers in general to their
pristine purity : a task, in every respect worthy of your high reputation —
distinguished, as you are, not less by your skilful and successful theses as a
Sorbonne Doctor, than by your unwearied efforts in diffusing light upon the
darkened state of classical knowledge in our own times. For, to the many
grievances attenduig our want of literary information, there was the additional
one of having the coirupted texts of ignorant transcribers. Judge therefore of my
extreme satisfaction, on finding such a pest far removed, by your exertions, front

FIFTH DAY.

Yes, Lisardo, these Germans first commenced the art of
printing at Paris; and conjecture has pretty accurately
assigned the date of 1470 to the earhest fruits of their press.

the City of Paris ! The priaters, whom you have brought with you from Ger-
many, have executed their task with complete fidelity ; owmg, no douht, to the
care and anxiety previously bestowed by you upon the collation of the original
MSS. &c. Farewell. Your affectionate Friend ; In haste.' The colophon is also
worth a moment's attention.

Vt Sol lumen sic doctrinam fundis in orbem

Musarum nutrix regia Parisius.
Hinc prope diuinam tu. quam Germania novit

Artem scribendi. suscipe promerita.
Primos ecce Libros, quos haec industria fmxit

Francorum in terris, aedibus atque tuis.
MiCHAiiL, Vdalricus, Martinusque Magistri,
Hos impresserunt, ac facient alios.
There is no date to this book, nor to the Flonis, Sallust, Rhetorics ofFichetus,
Epistles ofPhalaris,Epistles of Fichetus, nor of Bessarion, ^c. ^c; but the year 1470
is assigned as that of the execution of at least the first four articles. The colophon
of Sallust (B. S. vol. ii. p. 328) clearly shews that book to have been printed in
1470, as it notices the preparations for war (in April and May, 1470) against
C. Duke of Burgundy ; and the prefatory epistle of Fichetus, just translated,
proves Lapidanus to be a doctor — which he was not till the year 1470.

The preceding works, with the Laurentius Valla, Jacobi Magni Sophologium, and
Rodericus Zamorensis, constitute Chevillier's first list of early Parisian books ; yet
it is remarkable, that the ' Manuale Confessorum,' &c. of Nyder is the first book
in the colophon of which the date (1473) is regularly introduced : see Panzer,
vol. ii. p. 273, no. 16.

Care must however be taken not to forget the Terence, in folio, without date,
(undescribed by all the continental bibliographers) which is executed in the same
type with that of the Florus and Sallust ; and therefore may be considered among
the earlier pi'oductions of the Sorbonne press. I well remember the surprise, and
even astonishment, expressed by Monsieur Renouard (when examining the
Spencer Library) on having this keimelion put into his hands. He had imagined
that a fragment of it only, in the Royal Collection at Paris, had been unique ! A
complete copy of the Philosophical Works of Cicero, (undescribed by Chevillier, and
almost of equal rarity) from the same press, also enriches the same magnificent
collection. In regard to the books given in Chevillier's first list, it may be
observed, as Panzer, Lichtenberger, and Chevillier himself, have before remarked,
that they are all printed upon firm paper of nearly the same tint and texture,
with a reman type of precisely the same formation : large, loose, and irregularly

FIFTH DAY.

This worthy Firm continued its labours very amicably
and successfully for about eight or ten years ; when death,
or some other powerful cause^ produced a dissolution of the

worked. I make no doubt that there were both thick paper, and vellum,
copies of all these earlier productions of the Sorbonne press. Chevillier mentions
a VELLUM Sallust and a vellum Fichetus {the Rhetorics), and Panzer notices
FIVE COPIES of the latter upon the same material. Sir M. M. Sykes has, I believe,
an original presentation copy of this latter, upon thick paper ; and a vellum copy
of the Sallust adorns the Auctarium of the Bodleian library.

In the year 1473 both the patrons and the workmen of the Sorbonne press
changed their residence. Fichetus is supposed to have visited Rome, and Lapidanus
to have returned to Germany ; while Gering and his associates, having hired a
house in the Rue St. Jacques, at the sign of the Golden Sun, came forth with their
first specimen of the black letter ; a pretty accurate fac-simile of which is given
in the Bill. Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 29. About the year 1475 (being the date of
the second book in Chevillier's second list) the firm of Gering and Co. thus modestly
recommended itself to the attention of the public, in the colophon of the ' Summa
de Casibus Conscientice' of Bartholoniasus Pisanus :

Hinc tu, qui Famam aeternam cupis cumulare,

SummS, Bartholomiua aspice ue careas,
Qum nitide pressam Martinus reddidit, atque

Michael, Ulricus, Moribus unanimes.
Hos genuit Germania, nunc Lutetia pascit.
Orbis miratur totus eorura Opera.
These six verses are given by Naude, but only the latter four by Chevillier ; who
makes his second list, of early printed Pans books, extend to the year 1483 ;
before which time, however, namely in 1478, the names of Crantz and Friburger
disappear, and that of Maynyal or Remboldt is seen associated with Gering.
In this same year, 1478, a new and much improved Roman fount was adopted
by these printers : as, among other works, may be seen from the description of
the ' Margarita Poetica' of Eyb, of the same date, in the B. S. vol. iii. p. 316.
On establishing himself in the Rue St. Jacques, in the neighbourhood of the
Sprbonne Doctors, Gering associated with these latter upon the most intimate
footing, which continued unbroken till his death. As he was a single man he
paid them frequent visits, and at length became one of their society. He was in
the constant habit of communicating with them respecting the works which he
intended to publish, and as constantly presented the college with a copy of every
such work. But the liberal printer gave them more substantial proofs of his
regard. His purse appears to have been as freely opened as were his ideas of
pubfication. In the year 1493, that part or wing of the college, where the
library had been deposited, fell down, from its ruinous condition ; and the society
not having wheiewithal to rebuild it, Gering presented them with 50 francs: a

FIFTH DAY.

partnership ; and Gering looked out for a new associate :
himself dying about the year 1510. It must however be
observed that the earlier works of Gering, Crantz, and

considerable sum in those times, and deemed of such importance, that Gering liad,
from thenceforth, a knife and fork always laid for him at the table of the worthy
Doctors of Sorbonne ; which said knife and fork, I make no doubt, from Che-
villier's lively description, the printer did not fail to brandish with all possible
gaiety of heart. In short, Gering received certain ' Letters of Hospitality,' from
the then ' Proviseur, Bishop of Meaux' (dated May, 1494) in consequence of his
liberal and affectionate disposition towards the ' Poor Masters of Sorbonne.'
Chevillier, p. 85, has given the original Latin document with a French version;
both of which were thought by Maittaire of sufficient consequence to be reprinted.
Annul. Typog. vol. i. p. .58-9.

But the benevolence of the Father of Parisian Printing did not stop here.
In 1504 Gering made a will, in which appeared, not only his liberal intentions
towards his beloved ' Sorbonne,' but no small proofs of attachment towards the
' college de Montaigu' — which two societies he constituted ' heirs of all his
property.' The Montaigu establishment, in consequence, became possessed of
the village of Annet, upon the banks of the Mame, and converted many houses
belonging to it into a foundation for the ' Classes of Grammar,' or Grammar Schools.
The portrait of Gering, with a Latin subscription of the date of 1510, (hung up in
the Montaigu college) attested, in the time of Chevillier, the extent of that prin-
ter's bounty. Does it yet exist ? To the Sorbonne society, Gering gave yet more
substantial proofs of his attachment. He left them 8500 livres in ready money,
besides the amount of the sale of all his goods and chattels, including the
materials of his printing office, and his stock of books in quires, with the sums or
debts due to him at the time of his decease. In consequence, the number of
fellows of the Sorbonne society was doubled : not however without going to law
upon the subject. A brass tablet, in the chapel of the said society, records
both the beneficence of Gering and the result of an application to the courts
of justice respecting the manner of carrying his bequest into execution : termi-
nating on the 13th of May, 1532. See Chevillier's very interesting pages 89, 90.
'The Sorbonne society (adds the same writer) holds this first Parisian printer, and
his testamentary dispositions, in equally sacred remembrance. An anniversary
commemoration of him is celebrated in the chapel ; which consists of chanting
the service of the dead, at vespers, and, at morning, of the IX. Psalms, Lessons,
Lauds, the high Mass, with two other low Masses for the Dead. In the sacristy
is this necrological memorandum : (23. Aug. 1510) Obitus Vb~ic Gering, Civis ac
Typographi Parisiemis, insignis Benefactoris hujus Domus, pro quo Missa solemnis
et du<E privata de Defunctis. Die p-mcedenti Vigilia.' L'Origine de Vlmprimerie,
^c. p. 97.

Maittaire calls the type of the earlier books of Gering, &c. ' fat and round ;

FIFTH DAY.

Friburger, both in the gothic and roman types, are suffi-
ciently repulsive — compared with contemporaneous pro-
ductions; but towards the year 1478 they adopted a new
roman fount of letter, and became worthier rivals of their
Parisian competitors C^sauis and Stol *

printed with a clear and beautiful ink ; upon paper not remarkably white, but
sufficiently thick and well sized.' His account of the early Parisian press, under
the auspices of Louis Xlth, is borrowed from Naude's Add. a I'Hist. de Louis XL
and is rather interesting. Annal. Typog. vol. i. p. 23-5. Whatever were his
political faults, Louis cannot be reproached with a want of attention to the
interests of literature. He was a very bibliomanical cormorant ; and enriched
the Royal Library with a prodigious number of fine books. His passion and
taste were probably regulated by that of his librarian, Robert Gaguin, of
whom Dubreuil is loud and vehement in his testimonies of approbation. Antiq.
de Paris, l\v. iii. p. 10-49. Laurence Palmier, and John Fouquet of Tours, were
also engaged in the preservation and decoration (the latter, professedly an illu-
minator) of the royal books. Essai Histurique sur la Bibliothtque du Roi, 1782,
8vo. p. 14.

* Parisian Competitors, C;esaris and Stol.] ' It should seem (says the Abbe
Mercier de St. Leger) that the same degree of rivalry which distinguished the
presses of Sweynhe^on and Pannartz, and Ulric Han, at Rome, marked the
operations of those of Gering, and Cassaris and Stol, at Paris : ' Does the former
print and publish a book ? — the same work appears in the subsequent year from
the press of the latter, Caesaris 1' SuppMment, &c. p. 125. This is lively and
perhaps not wide of the truth. Caesaris and Stol were also Germans ; and,
according to Chevillier, (but it is a mere gratis dictum) were instructed in their
art by Gering. They first lived in the Rue de St. Jacques, < a Venseigne du
Soufflet vert;' but towards the close of his life, Caesaris removed his house, in
the same street, to the Sign of the Swan and the Soldier. The first production of
their press, or rather of that of Caesaris, (in the colophon of which he is called
' Master of Arts ') is the Manipulus Curatorum, of 1473, folio, in the gothic
character ; described with tolerable minuteness in the Cat. de la Valliere, vol. i.
p. 216, no. 613. In the ' Speculum Vitae Humanae Roderici Zamorensis,' the
united names of Caesaris and Stol perhaps appear for the first time, thus :

perfinxit Regia Parisius
Presserunt Petrus Caesaris, simul atque loannes
Stol, quibus ars quod habet omne retulit eis.
Chevillier thinks that the books, where no dates are subjoined, were executed
about the year 1474 ; ' and to their presses the public were indebted for the
beautiful edition (says he) of the Dialogues of Ochani, of the date of 1476 ;
which Naud6, incorrectly, attributes to the Gering press. Chevillier thinks the

FIFTH DAY.

These latter printers, as far as I can discover, first put
their press in motion about the year 1475. Their perform-
ances are rather favourites with me ; as they uniformly
abandoned the ugly Gothic character of Gering, and adopted
a roman type at once proportionate and legible. I know
not how it is, but the roman letter does not seem to have
been a general favourite at Paris till towards the time of
Gourmont and Colinaeus : for Verard, Bocard, Bonhomme,
Mittelhus, Eustace, Bonfons, Remboldt, and sundry other
typographical wights, of eminence in their day, almost in-
variably adhered to the Gothic character.

The success of the Jirst German Firm of printers at Paris,

Roman type of Caesaris and Stol inferior to that of the earlier productions of
their Parisian predecessors : but he is certainly wrong in such judgment. He
adds, that Peter Caesaris lodged at the end of the Rue de St. Jacques (as I have
before observed) — and that the Sorbonne doctors, to whom that house belonged,
granted him, in the year 1486, a lease for life, which continued till the year
1509 — as may be seen in the Registers of the Proctors of that Company.' p. 56-7".
I know of no specimen of the Roman type of these printers before the Epistles of
Seneca, of 1475 : which, together with the Solinus, Sallust, (of excessive rarity)
Vegetius, and Florus, are in the library of Earl Spencer ; as indeed are nearly all
the rarer and earlier pieces of the Sorbonne press. The type of Csesaris and Stol
is evidently superior to that of Gering, as used by the latter before the year 1478.
Some notion of the peculiar formation of their capital letters may be obtained
from the fac-simile given in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. ii. p. 344 : which said
capitals have inspired the epigrammatic muse of Erhard Windsberg — in certain
distichs attached to an impression of the Tusculancs Quastioiies and De Finibus of
Cicero, executed by these printers :

Quem si Cephaleis (litteris capitalibus, quibus usi sunt
Petr, Caesaris et Joh. Stol) vulgaribus annotavi
His libris, veniam, lector humane dabis.
See Panzer, vol. ii. p. 279-280 : briefly referred to in Maittaire, vol. i. p. 54,
note. It should be observed that, to the best of my knowledge, neither the
firm of Gering and Co, nor of Caesaris and Co. used any device. Subsequent
Parisian printers (' Galli fere omnes, pauci Germani ' — as Lichtenberger, p. 210,
justly observes) made ample amends for such a cold and cheerless termination
in the productioas of their predecessors. They were resolved to conclude with
6clat 1

FIFTH DAY.

induced, I apprehend, a second similar Firm, under the
names of Higman and Hopyl, to establish a printing office
in that city. Accordingly, these two typographical artists
commenced business there about the year 1 4S4;* but follow-
ing the examples of a host of printers, then beginning to open
their offices, they confined themselves chiefly to books of
theology, including church-services; and rarely indulged
the tasteful reader with an impression of a classical author.

Now that I have got you fast within the capital of the
French empire, let me disport myself a little in topics con-
nected with early Parisian printing. Be it known, then,
that Devices were never used by the Fathers of the French
press — but among the Elder Sons of the same press (if you
will allow me the privilege of such an expression) few came
forward with such a blaze of splendour as Antoine
Veeard ;t whether we consider the number, the size, or the

* Higman and Hopyl — commenced business about the year 1484.] John
HiGMAN printed the poem ' de quatuor fontibus honestatis' of Mancinus, in 1484,
4to. in the Sorbonne Academy : see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 285, no. 103 : and La
Caille, p. 69. His partner ,Wolfgang Hopyl, printed ' Martinus, de Fortitudine,'
in 1489 ; but when they first commenced printhig together, I am unable to
specify, although the Cat. de la Valliere (vol. ii. no. 2589) says they printed in
unison from the first-mentioned period. Their joint names appear in the colophon
of an edition of Seneca's Tragedies, without date, in 4to. See Bihl. Spenceriana,
vol. ii. p. 350. The device of Hopyl, who printed alone in 1495, may be seen
in the work just referred to, vol. iii. p. 298, Chevillier has scarcely any notice
of these German artists.

t few came foi-ward with such a blaze of splendour as Antoine Verard.] La
Caille is quite eloquent in commendation of the brave Anthony. ' Ce Verard a
este un de ceux qui ont le plus imprim6 de son temps, et particulierement des
Romans, dont il y a plus de cent volumes imprimez sur du v61in, omez de tres
belles migniatures, en imitant le plus soigneusement les manuscrits sur lesquels
ils imprimoient, que I'on pent voir en la Bibliotheque du Roy.' De I'Imprim. et
de la Librairle, p. 63. Maittaire makes him begin to flourish in the year 1480,
and is not less eloquent in his praise: ' quo vix alius Typographus majorem
Librorum copiam in lucem edidit. Artem diu exercuit indefessus certe laude,
ut paucissimos ex coaevis pares habuerit' . . . ' Libris sermone Gallico iuipriruendis

FIFTH DAY.

populai-ity of his publications. That you may judge whe-
ther I speak * without book,' observe in what a bold and
almost original manner he introduces his capital letters!
Did you ever see such an / and L ?* They are fit for a
volume of the amplest Brobdignagian dimensions ! While I
am upon the subject of ornaments, let me, before I lay
before you the device of Verard, make you acquainted with
the style of art in the Engravings usually introduced
within the volumes of his printing. The following are
among the more curious and elaborate specimens; taken
from La Mer des Histoires.

egregiam ac fere totam impendit operam inter quos maximam ei gratiaiii debent
Historiarum ficlarum Scriplores. Ingeutia vulgavit ejus fai'raginis volumina de
* Seethe accompanying fac-simili.s.

FIFTH DAY.

The type of Verard is uniformly gothic, of a secretary
cast ; and has a strong family resemblance to the types of the
generality of the Parisian printers of this period. It is of
three different founts ; and the largest, when struck off upon
VELLUM,* which is not unfrequently the case, has a most

Lanceloto Tristano reliquisque errabuudis Equitibus, quos Amor et laudis cupido
varies casus volvere, calenatos labwes adire impulerat.' Annal. Typog. vol. i.
p. 36. From the same authority (p. 405) and Denis (no. 837) it seems pretty
certain that Verard executed three works in the year 1480.

* when upon vellum.'] From the testimony of La Caille it should seem that
VELLUM Verards are not very rare. In our own countiy, or perhaps in any
country, the Mirroir Spirituel et Historial of "Vincent Beauvais, in 6 folio volumes,
1495, is probably the noblest existing vellum monument of Verard. The British

FIFTH DAY.

imposing aspect. His productions are almost innumerable :
but now for his device ! You have it here with exact fidelity.

The Device of Anthony Verard.

Museum is enriched witli a copy of this magnificent set of books, which had
formerly belonged to Henry VII. The Duke of Devonshire possesses La Mer
des Histoires, and the Hafod library boasts of the Clironiques de St. Denis and the
Prophecies de Merlin (botli from the Paris Collection, and most luxuriantly
described in the catalogue of it ; nos. 375, 543,) all upon vellum. But it is in
the Royal library at Paris that the vellum- Verard-loving collector must expect to
find the fairest and most highly-adorned specimens. More than one book-case

FIFTH DAY^.

This induces me to proceed without delay to a selection
of some other similar ornaments used by the more popular
printers of the day. Come forward, then, ye Marnefs,*
Du Pbes, Marchants, Mittelhuses, Pigouchets, Le
VosTREs, Le Rouges, Le Noirs, Remboldts, Roches,
Eustaces, Bocards, Petits, Kervers, Gourmonts ! —

LisARDO. I crave you mercy! One at a time, dear
Lysander.

Lysander. No ; they must be grouped in masses : and
then, I beheve, they must only

' Come Uke shadows, so depart.'
Proceed we therefore to select the Devices of some of these
renowned printers ; for the Annals of the Parisian Press,

is reserved there for these tempting treasures ; and tlierefore, however my friend
Hibbert may justly plume himself upon the spirit and taste which prompted
him to possess Mr. Goldsmid's fine copy of the first Arthur and Lancelot, of 1488,
printed by the said Verard — and obtained at a price proportionabJy joyous-— yet
let him read Brunet's notice of two vellum co»ies of the Lancelot of 1494, in
the Manuel du Libraire, vol. ii. p. 220-1 (edit. 1814), and let him— not despair-
but exclaim, ' my first edition upon paper is better than the second upon vellum!'
It is questionable whether Verard did not strike off a vellum copy of every work
which he printed : at least I understand the shelves of the royal collection, just
mentioned, almost groan benciith the weight of vellum folios fi-om the press of
that truly eminent typographical artist. The Bodleian and British Museum
collections also contain very numerous vellum treasures from the same quarter.

* Ceme forward then, ye Marnefs.] It is rather probable, than possible, that
the reader might like a sort of sketchy detail of the typographical feats of the
more celebrated printers, including those above mentioned, which, since the
dissolution of the partnership of Gering, Crantz, and Friburger, distinguished the
early annals of the Paris press. Some reader, perhaps, of a volatile and aery
temperament, may prefer plunging at once amidst the ornaments or devices of
printers ; as exhibited in the subsequent pages by Lysander — without condescend-
ing to wade through the previous typographical notices. Let him do so, if it please
him. The better way, I submit, will be to cast an occasional or prospective
glance upon such devices of printers as happen to be here ' discoursed of.' Not
that all the devices are displayed.

The Maenefs and Du PREs(or De Pratis) commenced their career in the yeai-
1481. There were three brothers of the former : George, Enguiibert, and John.

FIFTH DAY.

towards the close of the xvth century, if fully detailed, might
occupy some good 500 pages of a quarto volume ; ChevilUer
having embraced the literary as well as the typographical
history of the same press. Panzer, if I remember rightly,
devotes nearly 100 pages, pretty closely filled, to his annals
of the Parisian press during the last thirty years of the
Fifteenth Century — and in this list, satisfactory upon the
whole as it undoubtedly is, not only several curious books
are of necessity omitted, but many, absolutely described,
require a yet more extended description. Indeed I greatly
wish that some ingenious French bibhographer would furnish
us only with an octavo manual relating to the works even
of the printers already described; to which, no doubt,
many other names of equal celebrity may be advantageously
added: but I despair of the appearance of such a biblio-
graphical desideratum . . .
Lorenzo. Wherefore ?

Ly SANDER. Because the French bibliographers have

George printed a ti-eatise of Montfiquet ' upon the Presence, in the Sacrament,'
in folio, in 1481 : referred to by Maittaire, vol. i. p. 427, and Panzer, vol. ii.
p. 283, no. 76 : a copy of which, according to the latter, is in the Royal Collec-
tion at Paris. The names of both Enguilbert and George, with their device,
(see p. 35 post) appear in the treatise of Isidore, ' de summo bono,' 1491, 8vo. :
while in tlie Terence of 1492, printed by Wolf for Pigouchet and Enguilbert de
Marnef, the Christian name of George does not appear. See Panzer, vol. ii.
p. 297, no. 231 ; p. 300, no. *254. John de Marnef did not probably begin to
print before the year 1500 : when ' Le Coutumier de Poitou' came out at this
time, printed however at Paris, for John, who lived at Poictiers. ' Hinc (says
Maittaire) constat lohannem de Marnef Librarise mercatura; operam dedisseanno
1500.' Annul. Typog. vol. i. p. 736, note 8. In fact, the names of John and
J^nguilbert de Marnef, as printers at Poictiers, appear as late as the year j.538, in
Le Traversuer's treatise entitled ' Le lugenient poetic de I'honneur feminin et
seiour des illustres claires et honnestes Dames,' 4to. On the recto of fol. xcvi.
and last, at bottom, in italics, we read ' Imprim^ a Poictiers le premier d'Auril
M.D.xxxvm. par lehan ^ Enguilbert de Marnef Freres; ' having, on the reverse,
the following device — borrowed from, bbt improved upon, what is given at

FIFTH DAY.

of late shewn even less inclination than our own to researches
into the early history of their literature — connected with
rare and curious specimens of printing. What a fund of
Romance-Literature might the volumes of Verard, and of
the typographical tribe just mentioned, alone furnish ? — and
why may not the substratum, afforded by Gordon de Percel,
in his Usage des Romans , be mixed up with matter of a
more attractive nature ? The very ' rich and rare ' gothico-
gallicised cabinet of our friend in Portland Place, would of
itself supply materials, which, ^in the hands of a Prospeeo
or a Palmerin, — or in the hands of its ingenious owner —
could not fail to contain a most delectable treat to the lovers
of ancient belles-lettres lore.

page 35, post. The curious collection of Mr. Lang contains a choice copy of this
desirable volume.

According to La Caille, p. 70, this John and Enguilbert De Marnef were sons
of the John before mentioned, and printed at Poictiers almost as late as 1550.
La Caille further observes that the initials £ and G, at top of the three batons, or
black sticks, in their first device, (vide post) denote Enguilbert and Geoffrey De
Marnef; but both Mailtaire and Panzer expressly mention George. There are

FIFTH DAY.

Belinda. But these Devices — with which you promised
to treat us ! Ladies, you know, love pretty patterns ; and
if my sister comport herself with particular kindness and
civility towards me, I know not whether the coat-armour of
Philip Le Rouge, or Michel Le Noir, may not be worked
upon the flounce of her court-gown — against the next birth
day ! ?

Almansa. Beware how I take you at your word —
LiSARDO. No, my Almansa ; let us quarter them upon

our arms . . . This, at any rate, would be a more durable

mark of respect. But we are rambling.

Lysander. I cannot however — before these patterns for

however some earlier devices v^ith the three initials E I G above the cross batons.
After the middle of the x vith century, Jehom de Marnef, the youngest son, if not
the grandson of one of the earlier printers of that name, went into partnership
with William Cavellat, at Paris; and, among other works, these printers
exhibited a most beautiful, and elaborately-bordered device of their Pelican —
perhaps not to be exceeded — in an edition of ' Alfonsus a Castro adversus omnes
Ha>reticos,' (1564, folio.) Jerom however printed, alone, several pretty little
books, with the Pelican very tastefully introduced in the frontispiece. Bagford's
Collection, Hart. MSS. no. 5922, p. 222. The fac-simile given in a subsequent
page is taken from the ' Illustrations de Gaule' of 1511, folio : ' printed at Paris
by Engelbert and John De Mamef, sworn booksellers of' the Univerdty of Paris —
and for Peter Viart; ^c. ^c. but it should be remembered that the same device
appeared often in the xvtb century ; and, among other works, at the end of a
volume of Horw, printed by Pigouchet in 1491, 8vo. : see Bibl. Spenceriana,
vol. iv. p. 510 ; and page 31 ante.

Iehan du Pre, or Ioannes de Pkatis, printed a Missal ' after the
Church of Rome' as early as the year 1481 : see Maittaire, vol. i. p, 420. His
device is executed, a little ui the gothic style, after the manner of those of Verard
and Bocard : consisting of two swans supporting a shield, argent, helmet above :
below, the monogram of his initials, and his name at full length : the whole com-
prised in a square border, with aTfi angel playing on a harp to the left, and
another playing on a guitar to the right : beneath, his coat of arms, a chevron
between three stars ; and supporters of naked boys. The whole almost entirely
in outline.

GuYOT Marchant, or Guido Mercator, was a most indefatigable printer ;
and lived ' behind the College of Navarre at the Great Hotel of the Champs
Galliart.* He printed as early as 1483, according to Maittaire, vol. i. p. 441,

FIFTH DAY.

flounces, or heraldic quarterings, (which you please) are laid
before you — forbear submitting one other preliminary
remark ; namely, that you will not fail to observe, in the
History of the Parisian press, towards the close of the xvth
century, the almost total absence of a classical taste in the
selection of the authors printed. The excellent example set
by the Founder of that press, Gering, was feebly or par-
tially followed. Verard, perhaps the most opulent as well
as popular printer of his time, has not, to the best of my
recollection, favoured us with a single impression of a
Roman Classic : although Caesaris and Stol, and occasionally
Higman and Hopyl, shewed that such example had not
been entirely thrown away upon them. The school of
Verard, if I may so speak, (including the Pigouchets, Le
Noirs, Kervers, &c.) is chiefly distinguished for French
Versions of Authors of the middle ages, for Romances and
Church Rituals. The opening of the sixteenth century
witnessed a profusion of similar publications, till the purer

note 5 : although La Caille does not mention him before the year 1490. Hist,
de la Librairie, p. 66. His device of the Shoemakers, with the galliard chant
above, is very whimsical ; and may be seen at page 36, ensuing. His impression
of the ' Danse Macabre, & Miroir salutaire pour toutes gens,' &c. of 1486, is
much more rare and estimable than the ' Usuardi Martyrologium ad usura
Ecclesise Parisiensis,' 1490, of which La Caille speaks. See Cat. de la Valliere,
vol. ii. no. 2802-4.

Georgius Mittelhus, whose fantastical device is given at page 37, post,
prmted, according to Malluitrot, p. 89 (on whose authority, slender in this
instance, Maittaire exclusively relies, p. 452, note 2) a treatise ' de corpore
Christi' in the year 1484. La Caille (p. 65) does not notice any thing from his
press before the year 1489. Tlie forementianed device is taken from a treatise
* De omnibus virtutibus et omnibus officiis ad bene beateque vivendum in 1492,
4to. About the years 1491-5, this printer seems to have bad a great poilion of
business.

Of all printers, about this period, few were more distinguished than Philippe
PiGoucHET and SibJon Vostre. Their devices adorn pages 38, 39, post.
Their Missals, of which I have seen a great number, are oftentimes exceedingly

FIFTH DAY.

taste and sounder judgment of Goukmont, Colin^us, and
the Stephens, not only laid the foundation, but completed
the superstructure, of classical literature in France. Now then
for our Devices, Shields, or Coat-Armourso/'Printees:
at least for a few only of the more popular ones.

The Device of the De Marnefs.

(See pages 30-33, ante.)

beautifiil, and successfully executed upon vellum. They began to piint for
each other as early as the year 1484, or at least in 1486 : and continued,
apart, or united, to put forth a number of popular manuals of church services
as late as the year 1515. La Caille is unpardonably brief in his account of
two such celebrated pruiters : see pages 66-7. Pigouchet, in the naivet6 of
the old school, calls his own types ' very beautiful and pleasant.' His device
VOL. II. D

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Guyot Marchand.

(See page 33, ante.)

was borrowed, if not stolen, by Iehan Poitevin ; who substituted only the
Initials of his name, instead of those of Pigouchet, in the centre of the shield
suspended to the tree. I have met with several instances of such saucy theft
on the part of Poitevin. This subject has been before noticed : see vol. i. p. 91.
As to Simon Vostre, he seems to have been more of a bookseller than a printer ;
although there are unquestionably many beautiful volumes which issued from his
press. Among other printers, he employed Nicolas Higman (a brother of
John and Damian Higman, but he has escaped La Caille) to execute a pretty
volume of Hor(E, in the Spanish language, with wood-cut borders, in 8vo. without
date; but probably as early as 1515. Lord Spencer possesses a copy of this
book, in its original binding. On signature c 8, recto, is a pretty fair impression
of the group of figures, upon a wall, mentioned in vol. i. p. 62, note * — viewing
St. John in the cauldron of boiling oil. Vostre's merits have been discussed in
vol. i. p. 90.

FIFTH DAY.

Mr-:

The Devick of George Mittelhus.

(See page 34, ante.)

Premising tliat Caillaut and Mahtineau began to print in 1483, (La Caille,
p. 62) and Denis Janot in 1484, (note two tempting copies, upon vellum, of
books of this date, in La Caille, p. 62) I proceed, but unavoidably in a hasty
manner, to place a wreath upon the brows of that worthy old gentleman
Pasquier Bonhomme, ' one of the four principal Parisian booksellers;' who
iadeed ought to have received an earlier tribute of respect, and who commenced
his meritorious labours with a magnificent (and now rare) impression of
Chroniques de France, called Les Chroniques de St. Denis, in 1476, folio, 3 volumes.
These were reprinted in 1493 by Verard, in 3 volumes ; and again by Eustace,
with additions, in 1514, 3 volumes, in folio : of which two latter impressions the
Macarthy collection may justly boast of copies upon vellum: that of Eustace

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Phillipe Pigouchet.

(See pages 34-36, ante.)

having been in the Valliere collection. It remains only to send the reader, if he
be in a roving disposition, to La Caille, p. 61 ; the Bibliogr. Instruct, vol. vi. p. 60-
62, and to the Cat. de la Valliere, vol. iii. p. 179-181. Maittaire is more than
usually gossipping : p. 360, note 4 ; but why does he refer to the treacherous
Orlandi ? The Macarthy copy of Verard's edition wanted the first volume ; but a
perfect and stupendous copy, also upon vellura, from Claude d'Urfe's library, was
in the Paris collection; purchased by the late Mr, Johnes for 151/. 4*.: see
page 29, ante : Cat. de Mc Carthy, vol. ii. nos. 4504, 4506. La CailJe men-
tions a brother of Pasquier, of the name of John, who began to print in 1486 j

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Simon Vostre.

(See pages 34-36, ante.)

also one of the bookselling grandees of Paris : see p. 62, 3. I find the name of
Matthew Bonhomme (among Bagford's papers) who printed at Lyons, in 1560,
' at the sign of the Golden Key : ' if not before.

What shall we say of Robinet Mace, and Pierre Levet, who each began
to print somewhere about the year 1486 ? Examine Panzer, for three minutes
only, at vol. ii. p. 287, no. 119, &c. Levet was a particularly active printer.
Then again for Pierre le Rouge (or Petrus Rubeus) a brother no doubt
of Jacobus Rubeus of Venice — (whose press was put in motion as early as

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Beiithold Remboldt.

(See page 41.)

1474)_what is to be observed of him? See Panzer, vol. ii. p. 288, no. 127;
p. 289, no. 142 ; wliere we find him styled ' Uhraire et imprimeur du roy notre
sire,' in the first edition of that well known work, I.a Mer des Histoires, 1488,
folio, 2 volumes. He began to print in 1487, if not before. I can only take off
my hat, ' en passant,' to Messieurs Balligault (whose pretty device of
monkeys, executed in red, graces page 346 of vol. iii. of the B. S. ; and who was
imitated in such device by lehan Lambert, with the following couplet — being a
pun upon the Christian name of Balligault, which was Felix :

Felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum

Est fortunatus/e/tx diuesque beatus.
or

'Eat felix faustus cui sit fortuiia secunda.

FIFTH DAY.

•il

The Device of the Same.

and George Wolff (each of whom began to print in 1488 or 1489 : the latter,
in partnership with Cruczenach in 1494 — see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 291, no. 1G2,
&c. p. 305, no. 310, &c.) in order to dwell a little more particularly upon
Bertholt Remboldt ; whose devices adorn tlie present pages, and who first
printed in partnership with his master Gering in 1489, according to an inference
of Maittaire, (p. 505, note 2) supposed to be warranted by the text of Chevillier,
p. 98 : but see the parenthetical caution of Panzer, vol. ii. p. 290, no. 148.
From 1494 to 1497, the names of Gering and Rembolt appear constantly.

FIFTH DAY.

\\\\\

The Device of Michel Le Noir.

(See page 45, 'post.)

together ; but it was not till the year 1507, that Remboldt, then united to
Chahlotte Guili.ard, took a separate house, at a rent of 12 livres, (on condi-
tion of laying out 600 iivres upon the premises) and thought of commencing
business on his own account. In 1509 his nanie first appears alone under his

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Denis Roche.

(See page 47, jiost.)

another printer for a second spouse ■ — under the name of Claude Chevallon,
' qui vint (says the amusing ChevilJier) dc la Dace de Cambray demeurer avec
elle au Soleil d'Or, ou il fit toutes ces belles Impressions des SS. Peres de
I'Eglise que les S9avans recherclient,' p. 97. Madame Chevallon or Charlotte
Cuillard — which ever name be thought the more correct — outlived her second
husband ; who died in 154!2. Charlotte however took away the initials of
her first husband's name, and substituted those of her own, upon his decease ;
which initials continued during the life time of her second husband — and
are found, in a beautiful and elaborate device, bearing testimony of her being
' the widow of Claude Chevallon,' and publishing in unison with G. Desboys —
in a volume of the date of 1555. In the ibllowing year she died. Her house,
according to Chevillier, was long afterwards distinguished as the residence of some
printer or other. It may be added that Remboldt's larger device was stolen by
P. Gromorsus ; who put his own name at full length below, and his initials in
the centre of the shield, above. In a little quarto volume, (from which the smaller

FIFTH DAY. ^ 45

The Device oe the Same.

(See p. 47, j ost.)

device at p. 40, was taken) of the date of 1512, containing excerpts from the
■works of St. Cyprian, I find the worth3' name of Berthold Remboldt in conjunc-
tion with ONE wliich of late has thrilled throughout Europe! Read, patriotic
reader, what ' hereafter folioweth : ' ' vigiliis et sumptibus magistri Bartholdi
Rembolt, et loannis Waterloe calcographorum j}eritissimorum ac veracissimorum
collecta et impressa : quorum distinctio f route sequenti notatur.' What a cluster of
amusing anecdotes, relating to our ancient printers, might a little research bring
together ?

We now approach the Le Noirs — Michel and Philippe : see the fac-similes
of their devices at pages 42-3, ante. There is a smaller and prettier device of
Michel's, between 3 and 4 inches high, with birds below his shield bearing his
initials, having the inscription of

Cest mon desir de Dieu Seruir

Pour acquerir son doux Plaisir.
La Caille gives the date of 1489 to Michel's first performance : (' Le Chevalier

FIFTH DAY.

j3*3(B30Hq*wiM>aawmoa

The Device op Andreas Bocaed.

(See page 51 , post,)

deliber^ en la inort du Due de Bourgoyne ;') and to liis work (p. 64, copied by
Maittaire, vol. i. p. 236) the reader is referred for the epitaph of tlie same
printer ; who died in 1520, and left monies for the chanting of Masses for the
repose of the souls of himself and his wife Jane Teppere. Philip was one of
his children ; and in a French translation of Orosius, of the date of 1526 (in the
possession of the Rev. J. M. Rice) he is called ' Libraire et Relieur : ' as indeed
were the generality of early Parisian printers. Philip's magnificent device was
taken from a copy of Bocace's ' Genealogie des Dieux,' of 1531 ; in the very
curious and interesting collection of my friend Mr. Lang. It is not, as La Caille
(p, 91) observes, ' the same mark as his father's :'

----- Your pardons I crave.
Ye Cahons, and Belins, and Beniauts brave —
Ye Maillets, and Laubens, and Treppebels fair,
Ye Lamberts, Richards, and Maces debonnair!

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Iehan Petit.

CSee page 52, post.)

if I pass by ye, to pay a few minutes of respect to those distinguished typogra-
phical wights, Denis Roche, Guillaume Eustace, Andreas Bocard, Iehan Petit,
Pierre and Francis Regnault, and Thiehuan Kerver! The spirit of Udalricus
Gering animate and sustain me in these sketches — of men, dear to their country,
celebrated in their day, and of a reputation, yet to be more extensively circulated
and acknowledged ! First, then, of Denis Roche. He commenced printing in
1490, according to the authority of Le Long, as cited by Maittaire, p. 528,
note 8 ; although La Caille first mentions an impression of the later date of 1499.
He was a most indefatigable printer ; and his device, as given at page 44, ante,
is, I think, among the prettier ones of the period in which he lived.

But of Eustace — how can I speak in adequate terms of commendation?
What splendid, what amusing, what truly valuable works are indebted to his
press for their existence? Bear witness St. Denis and Froissart — to mention no
others'. Of the former, a brief notice will be found at page 29, ante : of the
latter, methinks I see, in imagination, upon the sloping piece of mahogany at my

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of the Same.

left hand, the lovely and matchless copies, one upon paper, the other upon
VELLUM, which adorn the shelves of the Althorp and Hcfod Collections ; over
the latter of which, in the silence of remote retirement, the bibliomaniac sighs
with more than ordinary mental anguish, when he thinks that the hands, which
lately tm-ned over its pages with profit to the world, are now stiffened in death !
No vulgar hands have reposed upon that same vellum copy — it was once De
Thou's, and afterwards the Prince de Soubise's ; at the sale of whose library in
1786 (Cat. de Soubise, no. 6818*) it was purchased by Mr. Paris for 2999 livres,
19 sous; and from the sale of whose library, in turn, it was purchased by
Mr. Johnes (I need hardly add, the last owner of the Hafod copy !) for 149Z. 2s.
A remark in the Paris Catalogue, no. 546, says, ' nothing has been spared in its
binding by De Rome :'. . . I wish everything had been spared : at least, tliat

FIFTH DAY.

The Device of Thielman Kerver.

(See -page 52, post.)

Monsieur De Rome had never applied his trenchant instruments to sucli a copy —
for know, cultivator of bibliographical virtu, that its previous and precious binding
was that of De Thou's library— (' Vox faucibus hseret !') mellow-tinted red
morocco, with the arms, as usual, of that magnificent bibliomaniacal ' President '
upon the sides — and in such binding it came from the Soubise Collection ! I am
sufficiently well acquainted with De Rome's ' trenchant ' propensities to conceive
what must have been the amplitude of margin which this unique copy once pos-
sessed. But where was the taste of Monsieur Paris ? Of the two, he was surely
the greater culprit. Return we now, for a mmute only, to the printer of these
delicious tomes. I question if Eustace published any thing on his own account
before the year 1498, or 1500. He, and Jehan Maur ana, printed the ' Grands
Chroniques de France,' (often called de St.Denis) in 1493, folio, for Anthony Verard ;
VOL. II. E

FIFTH DAY.

FIFTH DAY,

The Device of Francis Regnault.

(See page 54, post.)

of which mention has been made already at p. 29, ante. From the year 1500
to 1520, (as I think) inclusively, the press of Eustace was in constant and most
honourable occupation; and let his Crowned Heads and Centaurs, I entreat, (as
you see them at page 45, ante) receive no slight homage as you regale yourself,
chronicle-searching reader, among the tomes which tell of the ' olden time.'

Advance we now to Andreas Bocahd, ' one of the most skilful printers of
his time, as may be seen from the number of books which he printed as well for
others as for himself.' La Caille, p. 68. He began to print about the year 1494 j
and in his device, given at page 46 ante, he incorporated the arms of France, the
arms of the City of Paris, and those of the University of the same city. His first
effort was accomplished ' at the expense of Jacques Bezanceau, a merchant of
Poictiers:' see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 306, no. *317. He printed frequently for

FIFTH DAY.

What say you to these emblematic Representations,
Devices, Shields, Coat-armours— call them by what name
you please ! ?

DuHAND Gkhlieb ; and both Chevillier (p. 324) and La CaiUe notice the ' very
rare book' of the ' Figure Biblicae, &c. Anthonii de Rarapegolis,' of 1497,
executed by Bocard for the same bookseller. (Look for one minute at Fabric.
BibL Med. et Inf. Mat. vol. i. p. 130, edit. 1754.) Bocard printed also for Gering
and J. Petit. His motto may be gathered from the border surrounding his device.
His device, however, as well as that of Ioan Trepperel (in the ' Lunettes des
Princes' of the latter, of 1504, 4to.) is a close imitation, in the arrangement of
ornament and inscription, of the device of Verard; and perhaps the same artist
executed both.

About the vear 1495 the Ascensian Press, or the press of the learned
loDOCus Badius Ascensius, was established at Paris ; but as that press was
quickly removed to Lyons, I shall ' discourse thereupon ' in the account of Lyouese
printers. Let us now make room for the illustrious name of Petit. lean Petit
appears to have first worked in conjunction with that renowned bibliopolist and
typographical artist, Guy Le Marchant ; of whom a good deal (although scarcely
a fourth part sufficient) has been already said ; see pp. 33, 36. La Caille assigns the
date of 1498 to his earliest attempt, but inaccurately : see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 311,
no. 370. At first it should seem that he was rather the publisher than the
printer ; as more books of an early date are executed for, than by, him. He was
made keeper or syndic of the royal library and printing oflSce ; and in 1516
procured a confirmation of the privileges and exemptions of booksellers and
printers as granted them by Louis XL : but it was not till the year 1530 (if La
Caille be accurate) that he received the distinction of being « sworn bookseller
and printer to the University of Paris :' p. 71. His industry and gains (let us
hope the latter, for the sake of his wife Guillemette de la Vione) were
perhaps hardly ever exceeded : ' One may say of him (observes Chevillier) that
he was the first of his day who kept various presses in motion ; as not fewer than
fifteen printers were constantly engaged in his service.' His devices are given at
pages 47-8, ante. Among Bagford's papers, I find a work printed by I. Ruelle,
with a pretty device of a bird feeding her y gang ones, among vine leaves and fruits,
upon a rock, in the sea— with the motto ' In pace ubertas '— having 1. Petit's
initials, and bottom-border compartment, beneath : I suppose, executed for the
latter. In the same multifarious collection, there is a neatly designed pair of
rampant lions, smaller, as the device of Audinet Petit : probably a son of
lean. Consult Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 120.

I must again make scanty mention of the associated labours of Higman and
Hopyl, (see p. 26, ante) and only call Damian Higman by his name, (noticing
the omission of Jiim by La Caille and Chevillier) in order to pay a respectful
obeisance to the illustrious name of Thielman Kerver. Yet gaze a moment,
tasteful reader, at the very shewy and elegant device of the said Damian

FIFTH DAY.

Almansa. T am infinitely delighted with them; but I
rust the stock of\)ur Host is not yet exhausted ?

Lysander. Far from it ; as you shall presently see. Let
me however pause a moment to inform you, that, hitherto, we
have been traveUing exclusively in the Fifteenth Century —

Higman (from Bagford's Collection) which adorns page 72 post. La Caille
notices no book of Kerver's printing before the year 1504 ; but Lord Spencer
possesses specimens in the years 1497 and 1498 : see the Bibl. Spenceriana,
vol. iv. p. 512-514. These are probably among the earliest productions of his
press. He married (says La Caille) Yolande Bonhomme, the daughter of
Pasquier Bonhomme, and particularly applied himself to the printing of Missals ;
m the sale of which he seems to have had an extensive concern, and was almost
the only one who used red and black inks.' p. 76. Other printers, however,
equally excelled in the variety of inks, as the pages from 87 to 93, of the prece-
ing volume of this work, sufficiently shew. La Caille does not notice the
distinction which is attached to Kerver's name as being found in the first
book printed in the Italic type in France: see vol. i. p. 92. He gives us however
some interesting short notices, sufficient to prove how intimately connected the
history of the earlier Parisian printers is with that of the State of Arts and
of Literature in Paris at the same period. ' Kerver (adds he) made several foun-
dations, and to him we are indebted for the large stained-glass window above the
door of the church of St, Benedict, finished in 1525, and containing the device
(see p. 49, ante) which he introduced in his books. It is distinguished as being
one of the finest church-windows in Paris. The same spirited character caused a
similar window to be erected over the high altar of the church of RR. PP.
Mathurins, where is also seen his device, as upon several other ornaments which
he gave to these two churches, and in one of which his ashes repose.' Hist, de
Vlmprim, p. 76. I take it that Kerver died not long after the finishing of these
wuidows, as his widow put forth an impression of the ' Enchiridion Eccl. Sarisb.'
in 1528 : see vol. i. p. 92 — of which book my friend Mr. Neunburg also possesses
a copy upon vellum, that had successively belonged to Wanley, Lord Oxford,
West, and the late Mr. Pitt — of missal-loving memory, (not, therefore, the late
Mr. Pitt of power-loving memory). In this copy Mr. West wrote (as it strikes
me, and as I have often written myself) a foolish memorandum : describing it
to be ' the finest-printed English Missal on vellum, and the only one of this edition
in England.' The memorandum bears the date of 1743. Kerver left behind
three children ; John, James, and Tliielman. James, in 1534, used the device of
two fighting cocks, very neatly cut in wood ; and was the more active printer of
the three. He also used a single, large unicorn, with his paw upon a shield.
Consult La Caille, p. 105. So farewell to thee,' — ' peritissimus Calcogea-
PHORUM Thielmannus Kerver Confluentinus !' see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 333,
no. 595.

FIFTH DAY.

and are now just about stepping over the threshold to look
around us in the early part of the Sixteenth Century —
LisARDO. Proceed without fear, and gaze without ennui.

In our way to the Rkgnaults, (Peter and Francis) may we ask who was
that David Lauxius, ' Brytannus Edinburgensis,' that printed with Higman
and Hopyl hi 1496? See the particularised colophon in Panzer, vol. ii. p. 312,
no. 378. (A better account of him will no doubt be given in Mr. G. Chalmers's
forthcoming history of Scottish printing.) Let Francis and Peter Regnault have
conspicuous places upon those shelves which groan beneath the weight of black-
letter lore ! La Caille makes Peter to be the son of Francis, and assigns the date
of 1506 (instead of 1500, according to Panzer) to the first book printed by the
latter : but here is some mistake. Poter was rather an elder brother, as I con-
ceive ; as there is direct evidence of his having caused an impression of one of
the books of Ovid's Metamorphoses to be printed in 1496, 4to. see Maittaire,
p. 628. In the colophon of that impression he is described as ' of Caen ;' and
indeed the second device, in red, given at p. 50, ante, is from a book printed at
Caen in 1515; while the first, in black, is from a book printed by him at Rouen
in 1500. Yet it should seem, from La Caille, (p. 103) that Francis had a son
named Peter, who married Gillette Chevallon the daughter of Claude
Chevallon, (see p. 44, ante) and ' who distinguished himself from other booksellers
and printers by the quantity of books which he executed in perfection.' His
small device, a pretty improvement of his father's, may come m here.

The usual device of Francis Rcgnault is seen at p. 51, an'e. He had however
a different one ; a shepherd and shepherdess supporting a coat-armour, with
sheep feedinij in the foreground — which is comparatively uncommon. His
elephant and castle were imitated by Georgius de Caballis, in 1566 ; and his
widow, in 1555, if not before, used the same, reduced, within an elegant border ;
having the initials of her maiden name, M. B. (Magdel aine Bouchette) above,
and tlie motto ' Sicut Elephas Sto' (a soothing senlimeut for a disconsolate widow !)
around it.

FIFTH DAY.

Such a prospect should be interminable. Who comes first
to arrest our attention ?

Lysander. The Hardouins, Gillet, and Germain,*
are among the most ancient and most respectable printers of
the period we are about to visit. Their Missals are some-
times enchanting ; and their red and hlack. as well as the
texture of their vellum, denote the skill and taste of the
hands by which they were executed. The following is their
Device ; succeeded by a magnificent ornament, bearing the

The Device of the Hardouins.

* The Hardouins, Gillet and Germain.'] Panzer assigns the date of 1503 as the

FIFTH DAY.

arms of some grave and potent Seignor; which is frequently
found at the end of their Offices and Hours.

OllNAMENT USED BY THE HaRD0UI2^S.

eailiebt of that of any book printed by the Hardouins ; and the collection of a
friend supplied him with a volume of Hora, printed by Germain Hardouyn, of
the same date. See vol, xi. p. 221 ; vol. vii. p. 507, no. 61. A volume of the

FIFTH DAY.

Next come the Go'uemonts (Robert and Gilles)* to
claim the tribute of a respectful attention. You may remem-
ber to have been told that the public were indebted to these
printers, especially to Gilles, for the renewal of the roman
letter, which had disappeared since the earher publications

♦ Office of the Virgin,' by Gillet, also of 1503, immediately follows ; which was
in the Crevenna Collection. The device, represented by Lysander, served also
occasionally for books printed by Eustace, and one of the Du Pr6s ; the usual device
of the Hardouins being Hercules rescuing Dej'anira from the Centaur. A brief
notice of Gillet is given in vol. i. p. 91-2. They were both unquestionably very
beautiful printers ; and maintained a prodigious traffic in the sale of devotional
volumes — their productions beuig, upon the whole, fully equal to those of Kei-ver,
Pigouchet, or Vostre. German lived at the Sign of St. Margaret — Gillet, at that
of the Rose.

* the Gourmonts (Robert and GiZ/es)] Mr. Beloe, in the vth volume of his
Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, has devoted nearly 50 pages to an
account of the labours of Gilles Gourraont, the Sabii, the Gryphii, and Colinjeus ;
and of these fifty pages, about thirty are apportioned to the mention of Gourmont
and the editors of the works which issued from his press. No apology need
have been expressed for the * undue length ' of the Gourmont article ; as ' a great
deal more of interestuig matter relating to it, presents itself.' p. 159. That addi-
tional matter will not be here expected, or at least not given — if expected : as
La Caille, p. 80 (brief, and not quite accurate) Chevillier, p. 246-^^64, Mailtaire,
vol. ii. p. 95-103 (copious and particular, as far as they go) not forgetting a little
gossipping in Clement, vol. i. p. 206-7 (incorrectly referred to by Panzer, vol. vii.
p. 526) may be consulted to almost every possible degree of advantage. Yet
Gilles de Gourmont shall not be wholly dismissed without having a small chaplet
of sweet-briar blossoms (they cannot aspire to the dignity of roses) entwined round
his brow. Know then, classical reader, that iEgidius Gourmont was the first
PRINTER OF Greek and Hebrew Books — at Paris. Yes, the Gerings, and
Stols, and Higmans, had a classical taste ; but their powers, as printers, extended
only to founts of the Roman letter: that pretty and playful form of Greek type
being entirely unessayed before the time of G. Gourmont, Under Professor
TissARD— (whose epistolary prefixes, as extracted by Maittaire, are extremely
interesting) the modest, the virtuous, the truly classical Tissard— (and of whom
I wish, apparently with Mr. Beloe, that we had even a good thumping volume
of biographical intelligence)— under Tissard, Gilles Gourmont did wonders, con-
sidering his means. Like a methodical man, he began with a small quarto
volume, containing the Greek Alphabet, the Rules for pronouncing Greek, the
Sentences of the Seven Wise Men, with the Golden Verses of Pythagoras, and three
other similar opuscula. These were published in 1507, under the editorial care

FIFTH DAY.

of Gering, Ca^saris, and Higman. The Gourmonts con-
ducted their business chiefly under the direction of the

of Tissard : and of this work I choose to speak roundly, with Clement, that ' no
one can dispute it the honour of being classed among rare and remarkable books,
when he knows that it is the first Greek book printed at Paris,' vol. i.
p. 207 (note 12). The Batrachomyomachia of Homer, the Works and Days of
Hesiod, and the Erotemata of Chrysoloras, ' followed hard upon that is, in the
self-same year. Illustrious Spirits ! . . ye found the ground parched, or choked
by the rank and luxuriant weeds of black-letter romance, rituals, and law glosses —
and ye poured your refreshing streams thereupon to produce vegetation of a kind-
lier growth, and of a more nutritious fruit! A golden harvest quickly succeeded.
In 1508 Gomxiont and Tissard brought out an Hebrew and Greek Grammar ;
read Mr. Beloe, vol. v. p. 154-5 : and sigh and wish that you had this grammar,
in its original parchment covering, among the ' slim-quartos ' of your glass-
efended, satin-wood, book-cases — ye bibliographical Rabbins of the day!
Why should Maittaire apologise for his ' Tissardine digression ' (vol. ii. p. 99) in
his account of these Hebraic rudiments ?

Tissard is thought to have not long survived this production. He died
therefore, phoenix-like, in a blaze of reputation ; — and his grateful printer may
have added to the moisture of his own sheets by the tears which he shed on the
decease of his patron. The Gnomologia, Aristophanes, and Demetrius Chalcondylas,
each in Greek, the latter in 1525-8, are among the last and rarest productions of
tlie press of G. Gourmont. It remains only to add, that there was a plentiful
sprinkluig of these Gourmonts. Robert, who began in 1498, and who had also
a classical taste, (see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 324, no. 494) appears to have been the
elder brother. John was another brother ; and Jebom, Benedict, and John,
might have been sons; according to La Caille, pp. 117, 142, 169. The device
of Gilles de Gourmont, as given above, seems to have been imitated by our
Robert Copland ; according to a fac-simile of the latter in the Typog. Antiq^.
vol. iii. p. 111. There is Ijowever a comparatively barbarous device of Gour-
mont, with St. John and the mother of Mary (apparently) as supporters of a
shield, or coat armour, in the lower division of which is a half moon — with an
angel above the shield. Bagford's Collection, Haii. MSS. no. 5922, fol. 7.
Maittaire observes that Gourmont sometimes used, instead of his common
device, (as above) the three Croims of Cologne — occasionally with the Hebrew and
Greek text from Psalm xxxvii. verse 25 : —

♦DJpt CDJ >n»'n

tan*? tt^pin mti
NscoTepoj hysvofj.sv, xa» yap ly{\pcx.(xa.
Kai oJx elSov §/>ca<ov lyxaTaXsAsjjCtjotevoVj
^Ouls TO (TTrspfia aoTOV ^vjTOVV apTsg.

FIFTH DAY.

learned Tissard ; of whom, if I recollect rightly, Chevillier
hath spoken largely and liberally. There is some tolerable
good taste in this device of the second Gourmont. •

36 ov loingjta le

Let me now request you to cast a transient glance, as it
glides along, upon the vessel of Galliot DuPiies :* — a fine

He soinctiines colophonised thus ' sub scuto Coloniensi' (Alphabet, Ling. Sanct. ~
1532) or ' sub insigni trium. Coronarum Colmiensium^ (Lexic. Gr. 1523.) Consult
the A^mal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 103.

* the vessel of Galliot Du Pre.] Galliot was the brother of John and Nicolas
Du PiiES : or De Praxis. Of the foimer, who commenced printing in the xvth
century, see p. 33, ante. Nicolas does not appear to have began to print till about
the year 1505 ; see Panzer, vol. vii. p. 514, no. 127 ; nor our friend Galliot,
till 1512 — according to the same authority, vol. xi^p. 299. La Caille gives Galliot

FIFTH DAY.

fellow in his way, and a most indefatigable printer of Ro-
mances and Legends. Did you ever see a bark so curiously
trimmed and manned ?

rather a flattering character. He says ' he was a sworn bookseller, and com-
posed several works, such as prefaces, advertisements, and dedicatory epistles —
which appear in the books he has left us.' In the beguining of his ' Grand
Coustumier de France,' &c. by Boutillier (in 1514, folio, according to La Caille;
in 1524, according to Maittaire ; but wholly omitted by Panzer, vol. x. p. 187-8,
p. 272) we observe these pleasant adages :

Le Baillif vandange, le Prevost grappe,

Le Procureur prend, le Sergent happe,

Le Seigneur n'a rien, s'il ne leur echappe.

In 1541 Galliot Du Pr6 joined ColiniEus in his Bible. ' He was (continues
Chevillier) one of the greatest printers and booksellers in his time. His device
has a ready allusion to his name. He left behind two sons, Pierre and
Galliot.' Hist- de I'Imprimcrie, pp. 85, (borrowed also by Maittaire, vol. ii.

FIFTH DAY.

A very different device was used by Jaques Cousin, a
careful printer of Missals of the same period, and whose
productions are by no means of common occurrence.

Another printer, also of unfrequent occurrence, and of
the name of Granjon, now claims a moment's attention for
his device ; in which there is a prettiness of effect somewhat
unusual in decorations of this character. He speaks for
himself,* as you will directly perceive.

p. 11 1) 150, 157, 185. I have seen a pretty device of Galliot the younger :—
two men reaping — of the date of 1576 : in Bagford's Collection. The device
represented by Lysander is taken from a volume of ' Ysaie Le Triste' (from the
Roxburghe Library : B. R. no. 6206) in the collection of Mr. Lang.

* he speaks for himself.'] He shall discourse somewhat for himself ui the present
note : not however that I must venture upon any thing beyond a mere sketchy
detail. Panzer (vol. vii. p. 510, no. 90) makes the first efifort of his press to be

FIFTH DAY.

Lorenzo. We are advancing fast towards the family of
the Stephens, and Colinjsus — as I guess. But exercise
your own discretion, and scold me if I am rudely intrusive.

LiSARDO, Proceed quickly, dear Lysander, to the notice
of those renowned printers.

Lysander. I will make a rapid advance towards them ;
for they were the very typographical heroes of Paris in their
day — especially Henry Stephen the second.

in 1504 ; La Caille, in 1506 ; see p. 79. His device is prettier than his press
work; at least if we may judge from an edition of Aulus Gellius of the date of
1518, in 4to. of which I shall have ocasion to speak in the account of the
AscENSiAN Press ; and of which the Greek passages introduced shew the
barbarous state of Greek typography in Paris at the time of the publication.
Granjon's bulrushes have an apt allusion to his own name — gran-joncs : but there
is a larger and more elaborate device used by him, of mermaids supportuig the
circle or shield upon which his najue is thus inscribed : Iehan Geaion.

FIFTH DAY.

Philemon. This is well ; but I do not wish you to slur
over the names of Simon Du Bois, (or rather of his master
Geoffeey Tory*) the Wechels, Cobrozet, &c. Remember

* Simon Du Bois, or his master Geoffrey Tory.] The retentive reader may
have probably not forgotten the promise contained in the first note of vol. i. p. 98,
respecting the meed of justice and praise to be here awarded to the above truly
eminent booksellers and printers. But Tory merits a more particular notice tha.
Du Bois ; as, if I mistake not, from the imperfect materials which liave come
down to us, he was a man of a most singularly ingenious and original turn of
mind : behag equally enamoured of philosophy, the fine arts, and printing. He
lived at the sign of the Broken Pot (' Pot Cass6') and Du Bois was probably a
workman acting imder him. The graphic decorations of the Missal of 1527, the
joint publication of Du Bois and Tory, have been copiously described, with fac-
sinules, in vol. i. p. 94-7. Tory worked formerly in conjunction with the elder
Henry Stephen ; and Maittaire has been delightfully copious respecting Godo-
FREDUS ToBiNUs : (as he is called by his Latin name) Annal. Typog. vol. ii,
pp. 89-90; 550-.558. La Caille supplied him with a pithy notice, and with
Tory's epitaph, which he has reprinted : Hist, de I'Imprim. p. 98-9. De La
Monnoye, in the Bib. Franpise of La Croix du Maine, ^c. vol. i. p. 275-6, has a
very curious note, relating to our Geoffrey ; wliich shall be presently mentioned.
In addition to these authorities, I have consulted Goujet's Bibliotheque Franpise,
vol. i. p. 82 ; vol. ix. p. 178 ; vol. x. p. 18 ; and vol. xi. p. 390 ; (the three
latter references are given by De La Monnoye, and relate to brief passages in
Goujet which shew how necessary it is to let Tory have a place upon our
philological shelves) as well as Fournier's Manuel Typographique, vol. i. p. xij.;
Peignot's Diet, de Bibliologie, vol. ii. p. 301 ; vol. iii. (Suppl.) p. 303; and Vogt's
Cat. Libror. Rarior. p. 244, edit. 1793 — respecthig the famous Champ Fi evry —
the ' magnum opus' of Geoffrey Tory; and of which it may be high time now
to speak

Maittaire calls this work, as first published in 1529, folio, ' liber notatione
dignus et inventu rarissimus.' It merits in every respect such a designation. It
was printed by G. Gourmont, who had probably a share in it ; but if Du Bois
had executed it, nothing would have been wanting to render it a master-piece of
printing as well as of ingenuity. Yet on very many accounts it is a most
estimable volume. Its title, as taken from the hook itself (in the possession of my
friend Mr. Douce) is strictly thus : ' Champ Fleury. Au quel est contenu Lart <^
Science de la deue ^ vraye Propm-tid des Lettres Attiques, quo dit autremit Lettres
A7itiques, vulgairement Lettres Romaines proportionnees selon le Corps <^ Visage
humain.' Below, we observe a ' Priuilege pour Dix Ans Par Le Roy nostre Sire.
& est a vendre a Paris sur Petit Pont a Lenseigne du Pot Casse par Maistre
Geofroy Tory de Bourges, Libraire, & Autheur du diet Liure. Et par Giles
Gourmont aussi Libraire demourant en la Rue sainct laques a Lenseigne des Trois

FIFTH DAY.

how you were pleased by the specimens of the first named
printer, in our Second Day's discourse . . .

Lysander. 'Tis true; and therefore I hasten to place

Coronnes.' This privilege is dated 1526 ; which may have led Fournier and
Goujet into the error of supposing that it was published in that year : yet Goujet
is right in his first notice of it : vol. i. p. 82 — but see vol. x. p. 19. The small
device of the author is beneath the privilege. A summary of the contents of the
book, and two interesting prefaces, precede the text of the work. The second of
these is noticed by M. De La Monnoye ; in which a passage appears precisely
similar to what Rabelais (book ii. chap. 6) puts into the mouth of his scholar
Limosin ; although the work of Rabelais was not published at that time ; ' d'ou
(adds De La Monnoye) Ton conclut que des-lors il en couroit quelque copie
manuscrite.' The passage alluded to by the French critic commences with ' Quand
esumeurs de Latin disent' — and concludes with ' de leur mSme personne.'

From the second edition of the Champ Fleury, of the date of 1549, 8vo. (also
in the curiously-furnished library of Mr. Douce) I shall beg leave to add a
different passage from this same second preface — before we step over the
threshold, upon the text of the work itself. It is as follows : prennsing that Tory
appears to have plumed himself upon being a great French philologist — ' le treuue
en oultre qu'il ya vne autre manieres d'hommes qui corrompt encores pirenient
nostre langue. Ce sont Innouateurs et Forgeurs de motz nouueaulx. Si telz
Forgeurs ne sont Ruffiens, ie ne les estime gueres meilleurs. Pensez qu'ilz ont
vne grande grace, quand ilz disent apres boyre, qui ont le Cerueau tout encorni-
matibule, et emburelicoqu^ d'un tas de mirilifiques et triquedodaines, d'un tas de
gringuenaudes, et guilleroches qui les fatrouillent incessamment.' Pleasant read-
ing, this ! — tender-mouthed reader !* But for the volume itself : — it is full of
interest and whimsicality. The author (according to Fournier, repeated by
Peignot) derives the letters of the Latin alphabet from the name of the Goddess
I O ; pretending that tliey are all formed from an I and an O. Again we may
say — ' pleasant reading, this !' However the work is full of marvellous things ; and
the style of thought and of composition is sometimes amusing and prepossessing.
The Engravings are neat and spirited ; exhibiting, I am persuaded, specimens of
the same artist who afterwards executed the Emblems noticed from page 258 to
264 of vol. i. of this work. On the reverse of B iij is a charming cut of ' Hercvles

* Geoffrey Tory has, in turn, been pretty sharply rapped upon the knuckles
in the Menagiana, for his affected phraseology and words. In his ' Epitaphia
septem de Amorum aliquut passionibus,' printed by Colinaeus in 1530, he pre-
tended to consider the following as classical — ' murmurillare, insatiauter, hila-
ranter, pederaptim, velocipediter, ajgrimoniosius, avicipes conspergitare, venus-
tutulenlissns, vinulentibibulus, apneumaticus, collifrangibulum' — ' mots tres-dignes
de Poliphile' — (observes the authority just given), et que, sur sa foi, le bon-
homme Catherinot, dans I'Epitaphe de ce Tory, na pas manque de garantir tels.'
vol. iv. p. 265; edit. 1716.

FIFTH DAY.

before you the Broken Pot of Geoffrey Tory. You have
here specimens of it, as introduced either in the borders, or
at the end, of his Missals.

The Devices of Geoffrey Tory.

Gallicus,' repeated on signatures F v, and F vj. This has the express date of
1526, upon a stone, to the left. ' The Triumph of Apollo and the Muses/ and
VOL. II. F

FIFTH DAY.

Few Printers were more celebrated throughout Europe
than the Wechels; * whose flying horse, or Pegasus,

Bacchus, Ceres, and Venus, led captive,' are in the same style of art. There is a
very whimsical Y on the reverse of M iij : displaying ' Envy, Pride, and Lust
and another Y, too whimsically minute to be satisfactorily described. The
different alphabets are at the end of the work ; which indeed is divided into
3 parts. The first is an exhortation to philological studies ; the second describes
the number, forms, and proportions of letters ; the third is very multifarious—
upon the elements of languages, &c.

According to Goujet (vol. i. ,p. 81-2,) Tory ti-od in the steps of Jaques
Dubois, (called Sylvius) hat had ' more taste, correctness of apprehension, and
solidity of reflection,' than that writer. They both however failed in obtaining
partisans for their cause : yet Meygret and Pelletier afterwards ventured upon
sounding the same trumpet against these ' Ruffiens ' adulterers of the French
language— with the same success, or rather failure. Tory was a translator of
both the Greek and Latin languages ; and the ' Hieroglyphics of Orus Apollo '
(see -vol. i. p. 260) are among his versions of the former. I consider him to have
carried on a most extensive, and I should hope lucrative, business. The privilege
prefixed to the beautiful edition of Hora:, &c. before noticed, (vol. i. p. 98,
note t) specifies that ' il ha faict, et faict faire certaines histoires et vignettes a
Lantique, et pareillement vnes autres a la Moderne pour icelles faire imprimer, et
seruir a plusieurs vsages dheures, dont pour icelles il ha vacque certain long teps,
et faict plusieurs grans fraitz, mises, et despens.' This privilege is dated the 24th
September, 1524. The volume of ' Horse ' appeared in the subsequent year ;
and no praise can be too great for the variety, the delicacy, the beauty, and
uniform good taste of its border-ornaments. La Caille extends the life of Geoffrey
Tory to the end of the xvith century ; but I question if he lived beyond the
middle of it.

Did the fanciful divisions and subdivisions of letters, exhibited in this volume,
suggest the idea to Giovambattista of publishing his elegant and curious book
(in the Italian language) ' upon writing all manner of ancient and modern hands
of all countries ' in 1543, 4to. (See ^gn. E vi.) The author styles himself
Johannes Baptista Palatinus. The preceding is the first edition of his work, and
the richly -furnished library of Mr. Douce contains a most desirable copy of it, in
old vellum binding. A fine wood-cut portrait of the author is in the frontispiece.
The device of Balthasar de Castolari the printer (a moth flying in the candle) is
on the recto of the last leaf. There were two, if not more, succeeding impressions
of it ; as a fragment of a copy, in my possession, exhibits the date of 1566,
imder the specimen of ' Cancell. Romana formata.'

* Few names more celebrated — than the Wechels.'] The father of this distinguished
family of printers was Chrestien Wechel; who, according to Maittaire, (vol. ii.
p. 405) began to print in 1520, and carried on a successful business for upwards
of thirty years. He published a prodigious number of books, and was remark-

FIFTH DAY.

first commenced his career at Paris about the year 1534,
and afterwards became more distinguished at Frankfort and

able for bringing them out in parts, for the convenience (I suppose) of a ready
sale and quick return of profit. He was one of those printers, who, after the
example of Gilles Gourmont, (in the language of Clievillier) ' excitez par les gens
de Lettres de I'Universite, se piquerent d'honneur, et enricherent leurs Impri-
meries de Caracteres Grecs, pour ne ceder en rien aux Imprimeurs Etrangers.'
p. 255. Bayle, (Diet. vol. iv. p. 490, edit. 1730) upon the authority of Chevillier,
p. 141-2, observes, that ' Wechel was so correct in his editions, that, in Burana's
Commentary upon Aristotle, 1539, folio, there are only two errata noticed at
the end.' His first Greek book was the ' Alphabetum Graecum,' of 1530.
Conrad Gesner, in his valuable Pandects, fol. 167, &c., fills nearly 4 pages with
a list of Wechel's books, and with the prices for which they were sold, up to the
year 1548. This list is preceded by a short epistle to the printer, in which Wechel
is thus addressed . ' Tu certe jam olim propter optimos in utr^que Lingu^ apud
te natos Libros, quos miro uitore, & incredibili diligentia publicos fecisti, vel
prsestantissimus vel inter prasstantissimos non postremus haberi et nunquam non
celebrari mereris.' The epistle and list are both very judiciously reprinted by
Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 411. Maittaire observes, that he supposes Gesner to have
taken his list from ' Wechel's own Catalogue of his Books' published in 1544,
8vo.: but, adds he, ' there are no prices in the copj of Wechel's Catalogue (or
' Index Librorum omnium, quos suis Typis excudit Christianus Wechelus,' &c.)
which I have consulted.' Maittaire then subjoins a reprint of this very ' Index,'
p. 421 , &c. Read Bayle's long note about the poverty and persecution of our
printer in consequence of selling an impious book. Diet. vol. iv. p. 490 (b).

Wechel was a great lover of Hebrew and Greek literature; and printed
various elementary treatises, as well as the entire Books of Genesis and Exodus
in the former language. ' If (observes Maittaire) he had executed the remainder
of the Bible in the same splendid fount of lettei-, and form of volume -r- how
would the student of sacred writ have been eternally indebted to him for so
grateful and acceptable a gift !' Maittaire subjoins two pleasing excerpts from
these first two books of the Pentateuch, published separately in the years 1536
and 1537, 4to. and now of excessive rarity. Wechel is supposed to have died in
1554, leaving a son of the name of Andrew (or Andreas) to continue his
business and perpetuate his name. Simon Du Bois sometimes printed for him.
Indeed his device of the two Robins (see above) is supposed by Maittaire to have
been exclusively that of Du Bois ; and the same authority seems to infer that it
was not used after the year 1533, when the Flying Pegasus (the usual Wechelian
device) was substituted in its place. Andrew Wechel was a Protestant, and
is thought by La Caille to have quitted Paris for Frankfort in consequence
of having narrowly escaped the massacre on the eve of St. Bartholomew,
owuig to the friendly interposition of Hubert Languet, the Saxon minister then
resident at Paris. Bayle thinks that his departure took place before that

FIFTH DAY.

Hanover. These printers however previously used the device
of Two Robins in a tree. Let both devices here speak for
themselves :

The Devices of Chrestien Wechel.

memorable and ever execrable event — ^yet it should seem, on the authority of A.
Wechel hunself (m the dedicatory epistle to the Vandalia Alherti Krantzii,
Frankfort, 1575) that he run an extreme hazard on the night of the massacre.
Bayle refers to this interesting document. The celebrated Sylburgius was
corrector of the Wechel press ; which, in the year 1581, was deprived of the
superintendance of its chief director, Andrew, by death. John Wechel, together
with John Aubri and Claude Marni, afterwards earned on the business, and
became established at Hanover ; and these, in the just and energetic language

FIFTH DAY.

I might dwell somewhat upon the Gryfhii, or Les
Griffons* — names, eminently conspicuous in the annals
of printing — but that their presses were more particularly

of Maittaire, * have forbidden the name of Wechel to perish.' Consult the
Annul. Typog. vol. iii. p. 455—460; where the marrow of La Caille, Chevillier,
and Bayle is most judiciously extracted. Both at Frankfort and at Hanover the
Wecheis disported themselves with their Pegas'ian Device, in wood or upon
copper ; the former, generally coarsely— as the preceding fac-simile testifies : of
the latter tliere is no prettier spechnen, in my humble apprehension, than what
you here behold, device-loving collector I

* The Gryphii or Les Griffons.] This is not the moment for dilating upon these
renowned typographical characters ; as, althougli Francis Gryphiusbelongs rather
to Paris than to Lyons, yet the latter place is the undoubted soil in which the

FIFTH DAY.

distinguished when they established themselves at Lyons.
They certainly however were rocked in the typographical
cradle at Paris. Let us reserve them for that part of our
discussion which shall treat of early printing at Lyons.

Belinda. I am delighted with such a corps de reserve.
Now, then, for Les Etiennes and Monsieur Simon de Colines!

Lysander. Behnda is absolutely working herself up to a
pitch of enthusiasm upon the subject— and yet I dare wager
a vellum Colinceus, against a paper Stephens, that she has
never read three volumes from the press of either ? !

Grypiiii have taken the deepest root, and produced the more perennial fruits^
There is, however, among the papers of Bagford (Earl. MSS. no. 5922) a very
curious advertisement, in French, pubUshed I conceive by one of llie family of
these printers, about the middle of the xvith century. To what it was formerly
attached, I am unable to conjecture. The reverse is blank, and it is printed, in
the italic letter, within an elegant wood-cut border. I consider it a curious spe-
cimen of hazar advertising, (to borrow the current fashionable phrase) and
peculiarly national : yet may it not be taxed as being a little out of place here?
AV GRIFFON.

Griffon, Marchand tenant sa boutique dans la court du Palais, au coin de ta
grande parte, devant les grands degrez du May, vend degrandes Esciitoiresfermantes
a clefs, de chagrin gamies d'argent ; Escritoires de valises, de tables, de poches, et
d'autres fagons, pour mettre sur des Bureaux : Cornets et Poudriers d'argent, et
d'autresfafons : Tablette d'Hollandes : Agendas de chagrin, garnis -J'or S/; d'argent :
Miroirs de poches de chagrin, gamy d'argent: lartieres a la mode: Boucles
d'argent, d'acier et de diamans : Cire d'Espagne de plusimrs couleurs ; Ganifs de
Tolose : Plumes d'Hollande tailUes a la petfection ; Papier fin de toutcs grandeurs,
cou:p6 et dore : Poudres dorees a mettre sur I'ecriture : Soyes a cachetter : Encre en
masse : Cachets d'or et d'argent : lettons nouveaux : Bourses a. lettons de velours et
d'autres famous, en broderies d'or et d'argent ; Colliers d'ambre : Estuits a racines
de chagrin, gamis d'argent : Racines, et esponges musquies : Poudre de corailpour
les dents: Poudres a dessecher, de muse et d'autres sentews : Savonettes de
Boulogne : Pate d'amande pour laver les mains : Botttes a poudre ^ houppes de
soye: Plumes perpetuelles, d'argent, 4; d'autres fagons : Trebuchets fins : Bougeois
de chagrin gamis d'argent, et d'autres famous ; Boutons de diamans : Porte-feuilles :
Porte-cedules : Orloge de sable: Porte-crayonS d'argent: Estuits a curs dents
d'argent a graver cachets: C^irs-dents d'm', d'argent et d'acier: Tabatlieres de
differentcsf aeons ; et quantity d'autres petits bijoux, enrichis d'or et d'argent.

Et en sa chambre rue de la Pelleirie, pres de Saint Barthekmy, ouily a pareilks
de sortes -de Marchandises.

FIFTH DAY.

Philemon. Cease such cutting reproaches. Remember
Corrozet,* and then for CoHnaeus and Co.

Lysander. My memory happens to be somewhat trea-
cherous, just now, respecting Corrozet ; but in heu of him,
and of his device, do pray cast a quick and approving eye
upon the pretty Greyhounds of Damian Higman ! . . a de-
scendant of one in the distinguished firm of Higman, Hopyl,
and Co. of whom you may remember some notice was taken

* Remember Corrozet.'] I will endeavour here to supply the treacherous
memory of Lysander ; particularly as, in vol, i. p. 256-7, a sort of promise is
held out to say a word or two about this said Gilles Corrozet. Maittaire has
enriched pages 125, 6, 7, of the third volume of his invaluable Typographical
Annals, with a few particulars, selected from Du Verdier, La Croix du Maine,
La Caille, and Simler, respecting this ingenious, publisher and printer ; nor am I
siu"e, from the catalogue displayed by him of a few of the rarer pieces of Corrozet,
that a curious collector can do better than look sharply out for clean copies of
these said ' rich and rare' pieces. Corrozet was born at Paris in 1516, and died
there in 1568. He had from infancy ' an excellent judgment and marvellous
understanding,' says Du Verdier — ' being versed in the Lathi, Italian, and
Spanish languages.' He was the author also of several poetical pieces, both as
translations and original compositions. A numerous family bewailed the loss of
this excellent and ingenious man ; of whom I am well persuaded an amusing
volume of A.na might be collected. Sigh, moralising reader, as thou dost peruse

THE EPITAl'HS OF CoRROZET AND HIS Wif E :

Heu ! Heu ! Corrozete, iaces : cor Numina sumant.

Donee terra rosam proferat ista tiiam.
Scilicet inuideas, nec parcas,ferrea Clotho:

Permanet in scriptis gloria uiua suis.

L'an mil cinq cens soixante-huit,
A cinq heures deuant minuit,
Deceda Gilles Corrozet :
Aag^ de cinquante-huit ans,
Qui Libraire itoit en son temps.
Son corps repose en ce lieu-cy^
A Vame Dieufasse mercy.

Cy dessous repose le corps de Marie Harelle, iadis
Femme de Gilles Coerozet, laquelle deceda le qua-
trieme iour de May 1562. par ladite misericorde de Dieu Vame
soit en Paradis.

(Maittaire, by a strange mistake, makes the soul to rest ' at Paris .")

FIFTH bay:

in the earlier part of this Day's discussion. I own these
greyhounds are great favourites of mine.

The Device of Damian Higman.

LisARDO. 'Tis vastly pretty — but we are impatient for
old Harry Stephen and his descendants.

Lysander. I begin to be nervous about the result, as
your expectations appear to be so ardently raised : yet where-
fore should I fear ? Maittaire holds out a lamp* to light me

* Maittaire holds mt a lamp.'] He in fact holds out two lamps, or beacons, for

FIFTH DAY.

across*thls bibliographical Hellespont — and as the winds seem
hushed, and the waves are in gentle motion, I plunge in with-
out fear or dismay. To drop all metaphorical flourishing.
Know, that towards the end of the xvth century, Henry
Stephen the Elder, (father of the renowned family
which bears his name*) printed in conjunction with Wolf-

this Hellespontic effort. Tbe first is, the Life of Culincens in his ' Historia Typo-
graphorum aliquot Parisiensium Vitas et Libros Complectens,' 1717 , 8vo. (of which
a choice copy, upon large paper, clad in dark green morocco by that Coryphjeus
of book-binders, Mr. C. Lewis, has long adorned my bibliographical cabinet, and
cheered many a moment of ennui) and his ' Stephanonim Historia, Vitas ipsorum
ac libros complectens,' 1709, 8vo. — His second lamp shines with almost equal
radiance and interest in his Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 395, &c. wherein ' ijiany
things (observes he) either partially, or incorrectly, or not at all before known,
are corrected and enlarged.' I consider the preliminary note, (p. 395) in which
Maittaire replies to an attack made upon his previous labours by an author in
the • Lettres Choisies de Mr. Bayle avec des remarques,' 1714, 8vo., as a piece of
elegant and most successful composition ; breathing a spirit equally remarkable for
its manliness and modesty. There was however no occasion for Maittaire (like
another Teucer under the full-orbed shield of Ajax) to shelter himself behind the
aegis of Le Long, or of Prosper Marchand ; as his own works, whether classical
or bibliographical, are an ornament to his country, and a monument of imperish-
able reputation to his name.

Almeloveen^s work entitled (' De Vitis Stephanorum Celebrium Typographorum
Dissertatio Epistolica') v/as published in a small and neatly printed duodecimo
Volume at Amsterdam, in 1683 — dedicated to the famous Grsevius. It is a
spirited and interesting manual of the biographies of the Stephens, with short
catalogues of the books printed by them ; but much inferior, both in import-
ance and extent of matter, to the subsequent work of Maittaire. Almeloveen
was a distinguished physician at Amsterdam ; and it is pleasing to hear a man,
of his occupations and pursuits, talk — as he does, in the commencement of his
epistolary dedication — of ' devoting liis winter holidays to the amusenjent afforded
him by his library, whilst others are indulging themselves in gaieties, festi-
vities, and useless pleasures and expenses.' A pithy and potent panegyric of the
elder Robert Stephen, by Scevolas Sammarthanus, happening to catch the
inquisitive eye of Dr. Almeloveen, he resolved upon the composition of his
' Dissertatio Epistolica in which are many gossipping and amusing passages,
and for which, with Menage, he may receive our best thanks.

* the father of the renowned family which bears his name.J Henry Stephen
may justly be so designated. Maittaire says that he began to print in 1502 with
Wolfgang Hopyl ; but Panzer has favoured us with the title of a work ('. Jacobi

FIFTH DAY

gang Hopyl ; and quite at the opening of the xvith century
he appears to have commenced business on his own account.
He probably took an early aversion to the black letter, as
his books are generally executed in the roman character.
There is a quiet sober effect about his printing which
reminds us of the Basil books — which Gourmont imitated
but feebly, and which Colinaeus, and Robert and Henry
Stephen (the Son and Grandson of the first Henry) im-
proved upon, and carried nearly to perfection. It is singular
that Maittaire should have never met with old Henry's device.
It is, to be sure, very barbarous, and wholly unworthy of

Fabri Stapiilensis Aitificialis Introductio nioralis in decern libros Ethicorura
Aristotelis) of the date of 1496, in which the joint names of Hopyl and H.
Stephen appear. Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 312, no. 379 ; and Maittaire's Annal.
Typograph. vol. ii. p. 87. In his Vita, Siephanunim, Maittaire assigns the date
of 1503 as the earliest of that in the Stephanine series. In this latter work,
p. 7, he admits that ' of the birth and education of the first H. Stephen,
nothing is known with certainty.' It remains only to observe, that Stephen
continued to employ, or to work in unison with, many celebrated printers, as
well as to print by himself, till the year 1521 , when he died, and was succeeded
in his business by Colinajus, who shortly after married his widow. Stephen used
the gothic type in conjunction with Hopyl, but rarely on his own account. His
roman type is justly said by Maittaire to be ' not inelegant.' It is full-faced, and
extremely legible, varied occasionally with red ink, and enriched with whimsical
capital initials. His Greek type is of rare occurrence. Some lines of it appear,
according to Maittaire, (Antial. Typog. vol. ii. p. 88, note (e) in the Morals of
Aristotle, of 1505, in the Politics of the same author, 1506, and more frequently
in the well known and well-printed Psalterium Quincyplcx of 1509 ; yet very inac-
curately, and destitute of accents and breathings. In the ' De Curatione Gracarum
Affectionum <^c. Thcodoriti Cyrensis, 1519, folio, there are yet more numerous
Greek passages, and in every respect more correctly executed. Ibid, and see
p. 328, note (e). It is extraordinary that Maittaire should have never met with
the device exclusively belonging to the elder H. Stephen j as he says, in a
note, at p. 87, that ' Stephen always borrowed the Rabbits of Colinasusj' and, in
the text, that ' he had no device of his own.' Indeed the work from -which the
above fac-simile is taken (^Pauli JEginetoi PrcEcepta saluhria Guilielmo Copo Basiliensi
interprete, 1510, 4to.) has wholly escaped him. The device is seen at the end of
the book ; which has a well-ornamented frontispiece (a full length of Saint
Stephen) and some pretty capital initials, with a fair sprinkle of red printing.
In the collection of Earl Spencer.

FIFTH DAY.

what had preceded it among his typographical bretheren :
— as you may judge from the following fac-simile of it.

The Device or Henry Stephen the Elder.

This worthy character — the fountain-head of a race which
has watered the literary republic with so many beauteous
and bountiful streams — was succeeded in his business by

FIFTH DAY.

Simon de Colines; (or Simon ColiNjEUs,*) whom Maittaire
designates as ' an active partner ' with Stephen while he was
living. This event took place probably in the year 1520, or

* Simon de Colines, or Simon ColinausJ] Colinaeus began to print in 1519-20, in
conjuction with Henry Stephen ; and continued his distinguished career till
1546, when he is supposed to have died. In 1550 his heirs succeeded to his
business. ' There was none of tlie liberal Arts or Sciences, (observes Maittaire)
no man eminent for his erudition at that time, but what appeared still more
advantageously from the press of Colinaeus.' ' His office (adds the same typo-
graphical critic) abounded with all sorts of well-cut founts of letter-r-French,
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and even Chaldaic' Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 400. His
Greek books are few in number; only eight — concerning which consult Mr.
Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature, &c. vol. t. p. 185-8. Of these, the most distin-
guished are the Aristophanes of 1528 (containing 3 pages of errata) and the
New Testament of 1534. See the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 63-4. Mr.
Beloe doubts about the ' Galeiius ad Patrophilum,' Gr. without date, given in
the work last referred to, upon the authority of Mr. Wodhul. He supposes,
from Maittaire's Life of Colinseus, that all the Opuscula of Galen were Latin
versions ; but in the Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 400, note (f) the ' Galeni Quaed.
Opusc' of 1529; and 1530, are placed among the Greek Books. I do not con-
sider Colinajus to have been happy in the choice of his Greek character ; which,
at first also, (to speak plainly) was most miserably ill prhited : — ' niendose et
confuse,' is Maittaire's emphatic condemnation : yet tlie type itself he pronounces
to be ' neat.' A specimen of his Hebraic and Chaldaic characters may be seen
in the ' Catalogus Hebrjeorum et Chalda;orum Nominum ' subjoined to his
edition of the Latin Vulgate Bible of 1541 : Annal. Typog. ii. p. 400 — so that
Maittaire was wrong, in his Lii'e of Colinaeus, (p. 13) in saying that he printed
only a very few lines of Hebrew in the Colloquies of Erasmus.

The paper of Colinaeus is justly praised by Maittaire, for its ' purity and
strength '■— for being ' comfortable to the eye, and for preserving copies by its
durability.' ' Hoc est, (says he, in continuation — and I will not mar such a
thoroughly conceived and executed biblioraaniacal passage by translation) cur tanta
cum voluptate demiremur codices illos antiquissimos Spirte et Vindelini, Conradi
Sweynheym et Arnoldi Pannartz, ac Nicolai Jenson iiunquani satis laudati ; (hear,
hear!) qui-annis supra binas centurias quinquaginta adhuc superstites vincunt,
quicquid nostro hoc aevo jactamus in typographia pulcherrinmm : neutiquam
corrupti, aut quavis senectutis not^ ragkve deformati, sed primaevo suae impres-
sionis cultu, intacto charactevum nitore, intaminatEi charta, et Integra njarginum
amplitudine spectabiles.' Vit. Sim. Colinai, p. 8. Again I say, ' hear, hear !'
Maittaire then speaks of the apposite ornamental title-pages of Colinasus's books ;
especially of the Clictoveus, (1520), Galen, (1530), and Fernelius, (1526).
Many more might be added. The specimen adduced by Lysander, at p. 81, post,
is taken from ' R, Britannus Atrebatensis de Parsimonid,' 1532, 8vo.; a thin octavo

FIFTH DAY.

1521, occasioned by the death of Stephen in the latter year.
CoHnaeus evinced a more than ordinary sympathy towards
the afflicted widow of his partner ; for after the usual time
of mourning had passed, he offered her his hand and his
heart — as well as a participation of the profits arising from
the uses of the puncheon and the matrix. I own I am not
a little partial to the typographical feats of Colinaeus. He
had not, I grant you, all the splendour, variety, and learning
of his son-in-law, and more especially of the son of that son-
in-law, Henry Stephen the Younger — as he is usually
called — but I consider him to have possessed a pure and
well-cultivated taste, as well in the works which he published,
as in the embelhshments with which those works are adorned.

of 40 pages, (lately purchased by me for 10s., but originally published at 8
deniers) now in Lord Spencer's library. Coliuaeus's dotted-ground capital initials
are very soft and pleasing to the eye ; as may be seen from some specimens
given in the ' Preliminary Disquisition on Early Engraving and Ornamental
Printing,' p. xl. prefixed to the first vol. of my Typog. Antiq. of Great Britain.
Colinffius is not the inventor of the italic type in France ; however Maittaire
may think that character, as used by him, ' fatter and fairer ' than the Aldine.
See Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 401-3 : and vol. i. p. 92, ante ; where the honour
of having first introduced such type into France appears unequivocally to belong
to Thielman Kerver.

Of his Devices, the earliest and rarest is that of the Three Babbits, as given by
Lysander at p. 79. I find it in the ' De Memorab. et Clar. MuUer.' &c. of 1521,
4to. ill the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, and in the Boetii Arithmetica
of 1.522, 4to. belonging to Mr. Wodhul. Sometimes these Rabbits, of a smaller
size, are made to support a shield, upon which are the initials of the printer's
name— without foliage, and with a less pleasing eflfect. The device of Time is
the usual one of Colinaus, above varied. Yet, occasionally, as in the Hippocrates
of 1534, folio, and perhaps many others, he used a more formidable figure of
Time, nearly 5 inches in height, with the motto of the second one above given.
This gigantic figure, with the same motto, was also used in tlie seventeenth
century, as I find it in the title-page of 'Nautonniefs Mecometrie de L'Eymant,
1 604, folio. Tlie device of Time was indeed used by a multiplicity of printers,
and I am not sure that Colinseus has the merit of having first adopted it — as
MiCHiEL DE HoocHSTRATE ccrtaiuly introduced it at Antwerp in 1530, in his
' U entree de la tressacre Maiest^ Imperialefaicte en la Ville de Ausbourg le xv. de
Juing L'an m. d. xxx, ^c. avec la belle et denote procession faicte lendemain. xvi.

FIFTH DAY.

His title-pages, his press-work, the choice of his letter, both
roman and italic, all bespeak the superior talents of the man
who adopted them; and I really think that in the publi-
cations of Colinaeus we have the first examples of what may
be fairly called Classical Printing at Paris. But I see
you are impatient for his devices. Take, first, the rarest of

our du diet mois. En laquelle sa Maieste Imperiale a teste nue poitoit une t^rrche
de chyre blanche,' 4to. (in the curious collection of Mr. Lang) in the following
manner.

It remains only to add that the ' Golden Sun ' was a sort of border-device of
ColinsEus. Maittaire has given a fac-simile of the above Three Rabbits, and of the
second figure of Time; but each upon copper — and, necessarily, of not so strict
a resemblance to the originals as the above are presumed to be. The prices for
which many of Colinasus's books were originally sold, may be seen in Maittaire's
Annal. Typog. vol. iii. p. 147-204 : — ' lectori (piKo^l^Xco ideo non ingratum fore
arbitror' — Maittaire rightly premises — and so, priced-catalogue-loving reader,
receive, en bon gre, a very few samples of these said prices :

FIFTH DAY.

them — the Three Rabbits; and secondly, the varieties of
his Time ; premising that a much more gigantic figure of
the same allegorical personage is oftentimes seen in the
title-pages of Colinaeus.

•SDEOOLINES

sous.

Vetus Testaraentum, miuori form^, - - 1525, 12mo. 24

Novum Testamentum, miiiori forma, - 1525, 12mo 6

Horaj ad usum Romanum, majori form^, quibus

elegantiores haclenus non sunt visae, ----- 14
Laccord de la Langue Fraucoise avec la Latine, par

lequel se connoitra le moyen de bien ordouner et

composer tous mots, . - , 1540, 8vo. lOd.

Graecarum Institutionum libelli xi C. Giardo Authore, 1541, 4to. 6
Livres Ecclesiastiques a Vusage de Chartres.

sous. d.

Heures petites, - - - i

Heures gros traict, - - - 1

Breviaries, - - - - 6

Processionnaires, _ . 4

Messelz petits - - - 1 2

Messelz grans - - 25

Graduels, ... - 35

Breviaires notes, ou Antiphoiiels, - T

FIFTH DAY.

As we have said so much about his title-pages, suppose
I select the following — illustrative at once of prettiness
and tastefulness of effect. You will see also, in the bottom
compartment, another of Colinaeus's devices — namely, The

FIFTH DAY.

Golden Sun. I choose to fill up the space with a fabricated
title ; preserving the order in which the original lines are
placed. Would that such a work existed !

De HENRICI

STEPHANI TYPOG.
raphi vita ac mo^
ribus libels
lus.

P ARISIIS
Apud Simone CoUnasum.
1522

LifiARDO. ' Amen, with all my heart.' Is it too extra-
vagant to suppose that such a composition was ever at-
tempted ?

FIFTH DAY.

Lysander. I fear so. But prepare now for the remainder
of the Stephanine Family. And first for the illustrious
RoBEET, son of the Henry whom we have discoursed of,*

* the illustriuus Robert, son of the Henry whom we have discoursed of.] Instead
of a hasty and sketchy note, a closely-printed centenary of pages should be
devoted to the ' Life, Character, and Behaviour,' of the truly ' illustrious
RoBERTus Stephanus, Robert Etienne, or Robert Stephen — take him
under which name you please, gallant reader I First, we will say he was born in
1503 ; and up to his nineteenth year (1522), from his own confession, he was a
corrector in the printing office of his father-in-law : see the conclusive note (d)
in Maittaire's Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 403. In 1526 he commenced business on
his own account ; and pursued his typographical career, till his death in 1599,
with equal glory to himself, to his profession, and to his country. It is difficult to
say whether he was more gratified by his monarch's coming to inspect liis office,
and by his waiting till he had corrected a proof, or by receiving the parainctical
dedication of Conrad Gesner (prefixed to the vth book of his Pandects^, in which
he is called ' among booksellers and printers like the sun amidst the stars.' See
the rapturous address of old Conrad Gesner, as judiciously extracted by Maittaire,
vol. ii. p. 445. We may here however, for three seconds only, touch upon a some-
what ' tender strain.' About the time of his setting up business for himself, Robert
seems to have cast an anxious eye around him for some fair daughter ' among
the sons of men,' who might partake of his cares, of his profits, and Jiis reputa-
tion— and who should such fair object be, but a nymph, ' hight' Petronilla,
the daughter of Iodocus Badius Ascensius? — a scholar and printer of
established eminence at Lyons, formerly of Paris — and of whom, in the subse-
quent pages, something shall be said. Maittaire designates the gentle Petronilla
as ' uxor litterata conjuge litterato digna.' In 1528 the far-famed Henry
Stephen appeared as the fruit of this ' learned' union.

Search, pains-taking reader, the copious pages of Maittaire for a list of the many-
tongued volumes which have immortalised the press of the said Robert Stephen.
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French — in all classes and departments — you have
every thing, from such a source, in the fullest possible state of perfection. Search
too the Notices, ^c, des MSS. de la Bibl. du Roi,vol. i. p. Ixxxv. for an account of the
Royal Foundery of Greek types, under Francis L, with which Stephen's Greek
books, and especially his New Testament of 1550, were executed : Stephen himself
having been made 'King's Printer' in 1546. It is impossible to particularise every
beautiful work, in every department, put forth by that illustrious printer ; but I
cannot easily forget the emotions of delight, and of absolute astonisliraent, with
which I viewed his Latin Bible of 1540, in folio, upon vellum, in the Auctarium
of the Bodleian library — and the binding, too, of that ponderous and ample
tome— antique, rich, and appropriate ! Upon the whole, I am not sure if this be
not the finest — to speak safely, I will positively say one of the finest — vellum
BOOKS in the world ! I leave Maittaire to fight Stephen's battles of orthodoxy

FIFTH DAY. 83

and the corrector of the press of his father-in-law at the
early age of nineteen. He carried the typographical repu-
tation of his country at once to its topmost pitch. There
was scarcely any department of printing in which he did
not excel, as much in correctness as in beauty. Hebrew,
Greek, Latin, and French, his zeal, his learning, his unre-
mitting, unwearied, application produced specimens of au-
thors, in each of these languages, which charmed and asto-
nished his countrymen, and which spread his reputation
throughout the whole literary Republic. Equally caressed

with the Sorbonne Doctors, (vol. ii. p. 452-8) and the same writer to supply the
reader with poetical attestations of the same printer's extraordinary talents.
Exaim'ne also the enlarged catalogue of Books published in the Office of the Stephens,
as given by Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 463-542, from original catalogues, with the
prices subjoined — ' Hujusmodi Catalog! (Maittaire rightly observes) rarissimi qui-
dem nunc occurrunt, nec nisi ingenti pretio redimuntur.' We may, however, assent
to the truth of Almeloveen's remark, that, ' it is surprising that R. Stephen never
makes mention, in his writings, of his father ; as he was of an age to know him,
to converse with him, and to receive from him his instructions respecting his own
course of life and study.' Diss, de Vit. Steph. p. 14. The curious reader may
probably expect an account of the robbery of the royal matrices and puncheons, and
of their conveyance to Geneva, of which our Robert stands accused ; but such a
subject is better fitted for the express biography of the printer. Read, however,
the pungent notes (B) and (C) in Chaufepi^s Suppl. to Buyle, vol. ii. pt. iii.
p. 49 : wherein the deposition of Le Clerc is very strong in favour of such an
inference — and Le Clerc speaks from the testimony of his grandfather, to whom
the puncheons were engaged by Henry, the son of Robert Stephen. It is
certain that these types were not redeemed till the time of Louis XIII. in 1619.
Chevillier and Maittaire are worth consulting upon the subject ; but we must not
believe Baillet in considering the robbery as a mere fiction — nor in supposing that
Robert Stephen was hung in eihgy at Paris, on account of it. Jugemens des
Savans, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 22, edit. 1725. He was hung in effigy on account of his
supposed heresy, when he quitted Paris for Geneva in 1551, and where he died
in 1559. The Sorbonue bickerings and heart burnings have long lain quietly at
rest. The productions of Stephen, on the contrary, only increase in estimation
with an increase of years.

Let us now say a few words about the Devices of Robert Stephen, The one,
first above given, was his earliest. The second gives us the man under the tree ;
but of these there were at least two — one of them being of considerable dimen-
sions, namely, nearly seven inches and a half in height — and necessarily attached
VOL. II. G

FIFTH DAY.

by his sovereign, and admired by the great scholars and
critics of the day, Robert Stephen may be considered
as among the most splendid characters — ' take him for all in
all '—of the period in which he hved. His physiognomy, as
^ven by Maittaire in the second volume of his Typogra-
phical Annals, is perhaps a little caricatured ; but I love to
gaze upon his long nose and flowing beard — full of cha-

to his folios. I am not sure whether our first Robert did, or did not, use the
device which I have given as that of his son Rohert ; and whicli also the elder
son Henry used. There are several varieties of these smaller devices. The
Twisted Snake appears on a larger scale in the Greek Testament of 1550, and
in other works. It was also used by Turnebus, as well as by Charles
Stephen. The Portrait ofR. Stephen, given by Maittaire in his life and annals
of that printer, appeared first in tlie Icones of Beza, (see vol. i. p. 279) but
there are copies of that work in which it is omitted. It was afterwards most
barbarously introduced in the biography of Almeloveen ; in the form of a bust. I
cannot at this moment recollect where the original is deposited from which these
copies (certainly somewhat caricatured, as Lysander intimates) were taken ; and
shall now only draw a silken curtain over it, trusting that the fame of the
original will live 'for aye.' Let me however request two further minutes of
the reader's attention to an impromptu of Marguerite of Navarre, with the
response of our well beloved Robert thereto — upon the former's visiting the
printing office of Stephen. This pleasant jeu d'esprit appears to have escaped
Maittaire, and the French bibliographers ; but it is found in the ^Additions aux]
M6m,oires de Castelnau, vol. i. p. 858, edit. 1731.

The Queen of Navarre's Verses.

Art singulier, d'icy aux demiers ans,

Representez aux enfans de ma race.

Que j'ay suivy de craignans-Dieu la trace ;

Afin qu'ils soient les mesmes pas suivans.

The Reply of Robert Stephen.
(' Au Nom de I'Imprimerie ')

Princesse que le Ciel de grace favorise,
A qui les craignans-Dieu souhaitent tout bonheur,
A qui les grands esprits ont donn6 tout honneur.
Pour avoir doctement la science conquise.

SHI est vray que du temps la plus brave entreprise,
Au devant des vertus abaisse sa grandeur,
S'il est vray que les ans n'oifusquent la splendeur,
Qui fait luire par tout les enfans de I'Eglise.

FIFTH DAY.

Stephen used also a twisted Snake ; and this, as well
as the preceding, was imitated or borrowed by the other
branches of his family. The following specimen of it, from
the Greek Appian of Charles Stephen, may afford some
idea of the taste of such a decoration.

From Robert, let us proceed to his son Henry — the most

Le Ciel, les craignans-Dieu, et les hommes spavans,
Me feront raconter aux peuples survivans
Vos graces et vostre keur, & loiiange notoire.

Et puis que vos vertus ne peuvent prendre fin,
Par vous je deraeurray vivante, a cette fin
Qu'aux peuples a venir j'en porte la memoire.

Note ; this impromptn and reply are said to have taken place on the 2ist of
May, 1566 : if so, they must have related to Robert Stephen the younger :
but it must be remembered, according to Menage, that the father lived near
Marguerite, and that both the one and the other favoured the Hugonot party :
whereas Robert, the son, was a decided Roman Catholic.

FIFTH DAY. 87

distinguished of all who bore his name ; * a man of such pro-
digious learning and perseverance, as to leave us in astonish-
ment how he could have combined the incessant cares and

* his son Henry, the most distinguished of all who bore his name.] If it were
ever my good fortune to be ' Master of a Mint' which should produce a surplusage
of wealth (for Baron Comyns, in his Digest, vol. v. p. 386, tells us that ' sur-
plusage does not prejudice') that surplusage, T verily believe, should be devoted
to the erection and exercise of a Press — which should, I also verily believe,
be first employed — not in rivalling and outshining other private presses of
modern celebrity, in scarce poetical reprints, which ' the elect' only can duly
read and appreciate — but in giving a more general currency to the reputation
of the Press of the Stephens; and, in these Stephanine Annals, to do ray
utmost in encircling the brows of Henuy the Second — .not a Plantagenet, but
one of the aforesaid ' Stephens' — with a wreath that might gain the approbation
even of the Sepulveu*. of the day ! (Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 400, may furnish a key
for the unlocking of this ' submorose' allusion.) As it is, I can do little more here
(' Visions of glory spare my aching sight!')

than observe, that Henry Steplien, the eldest son of Robert, employed his later
youth, and the earlier years of his manhood, (see Maitt. Vit. Steph. p. 208, &c.)
in travelling abroad ; in visiting libraries ; in inhaling and imbibing, with eye,
lungs, nostril, and every pore of the cuticle, those bibliomaniacal miasmata — in
treasuring deeply and strongly, in his inmost soul, those seeds of ancient and
modern lore — which, by a proper cultivation, he knew would, one day, place him
at the very head of his honourable profession. The venerable Du Verdier stops
short, in his glowing eulogy of the father, (Robert) to except the son — ' none of
the present printers (says he) have equalled Robert; I except however his son
Henry.' And how does Theodore Janson ab Almeloveen, M. D. (I am as
anxious as the Vicar of Wakefield for giving folks their full and due titles) com-
mence his brief biography of our typographical hero ? ' Henricus Stephanus,
scriptis suis eruditissimis ultra Garamantas et Indos notissiiims, (here follbweth a
quiutrain of Latin metre) omues sui stemmatis eruditione, fam;}, diligentia, facile
superavit : quanquam ejus parens, Robertus Stephanus, ut jam docuimus, pluribus
etiam laudibus ab omnibus meritissimus celebretur.' Vit. Steph. p. 59, edit. 1683.
See the same life prefixed to the edition of H. Stephen's Pseac/o-Cicero, ^c. 1737,
Hal(e, in 8vo.

To return to the typographical feats of this erudite hero. In 1.554 he pub-
lished Anacreon ; not only as the first fruit of his press,but as the first impression
of the Poet. In 1556 came forth his magnificent edition of the Greek Heroic
Poetics, ^c; of which the copy in the Althorp library is probably the most
stately in existence. The years 1572-3 witnessed his Thesaurus and Glossaries of
the Greek Language, completed in 5 immense folio volumes — which,

' Like Aaron's serpent, swallows up the rest'

FIFTH DAY.

attentions of his business, with the preparation of materials
for the press. He was, without doubt, not only the most

of his works for extent of erudition and immensity of labour. His Herodotus (of
1566), Thyrydides (of 1564), Xenophon (of 1561), Diodorus Siculus (of 1559), and
Plutarch's Lives (of 1572) — to mention no more — are at once existing and beautiful
monuments of the chxssical taste of ' Henry, the son of Robert Stephen.' To
the bibliographer, however, his ' Artis Typographite Querimonia, ' 1569, 4to. and
his ' Epislola de sua, Typographice Statu,' &c. (1569, 8vo. each reprinted a score of
times, but of which the original impressions are luckily in my own cabinet) are
documents too interesting not to be noticed. The former is in verse, and com-
plains of ' Illiterate Printers, by reason of whom the Art of Printing comes inta
disgrace.' There are numerous ' Epitaphs of Printers ' subjoined ; and among
them, are nine upon his Father — indicative at once of his aifection and enthusiasm.
In bis epistle upon the ' State of his own press,' he takes occasion to complain of
the avarice, as well as of the ignorance, of printers — ' accedit avaritia (says he)—
malum in arte typographica magis quam in alia vlla formidandum.' p. 57.* A
little before, he sj)eaks in a very gallant and liberal spirit of his own liability to
the commission of those errors which he reprobates among his bretheren : ' Absit
enim vt sibi quisquam persuadeat, ita me aliorum errata proferre, quasi ipse sim
avap-agTvjTOf, et hominem me esse non meminerim, id est, eum cuius sit labi,
errare, nescire, decipi. Imd vero me et colloco in hoc numero, et iam nunc, in
meo opere esse in quibus lapsum me existimem, ingenue fateor.' p. 39. To this
epistle is added a list of books printed in his office up to the period of its publi-
cation— ' of which (he observes) a few copies yet remain on hand.'

Henry Stephen, like his father, spent a great part of the latter period of his
life at Geneva; the then popular resort of the Calvinistic or Hugonot party.
His style of composition became proportionably severe with the asperity of his
opposition to the Roman Catholic tenets j and Maittaire regrets, in common with
every sensible reader, that these religious animosities should have soured the dis-
positions, and interrupted the studies, of such truly eminent characters.' Annal.
Typog. vol. iii. p. 483. The death of Henry took place, in his 70th year, at
Lyons, in 1598 ; (in 1596, according to Almeloveen) and he may be said to have
passed from this world in a blaze of glory — as the period of his decease was
irradiated by that of several other printers of nearly equal celebrity. A few
months before he died, he visited his son-in-law Casaubon, and promised him
some assistance in the notes for his Athenaeus. Justice however requires that we
should notice the charge of infidelity, or of carelessness, in collating MSS. and
adopting texts, which Boeclerus and Joseph Scaliger have brought against this
distmguished printer ; and which charge his son-in-law Casaubon has endeavoured.

* Maittaire seems to have had the same notion. In calling upon the printers
of his own times to rival those of antiquity, he is led to observe — ' At quotus
quisque omnium nunc invenietur his moribus, quin lucro quaestuque, rion peritiS,
et literarum studio, cum iilis veteribus contendat ?' Annal. Typog. vol. iii. p. 1.

FIFTH DAY.

learned of his family, but of the printers of his day — if we
except, perhaps, Turnebus — and yet I will not, upon recon-

with becoming alacrity, to repel. Consult J. de Almeloveen, p. 96, and Maittaire's
Vit. Steph. p. 483, &c. Nor are the arrogance, petulance, and occasional self-
adulation of Stephen to be passed over without censure. Verses, almost without
end and without number, were written to enshrine the memory and perpetuate
the fame of this extraordinary man. Read Maittaire, &c. Of his Portrait,
unluckily, I believe no legitimate copy remains. His largest device, peculiarly
his own, is given faithfully above. The Library which he left behind is reported
by Casaubon (Epist. cxcii) to have been rather select than numerous. It
appears, however, from the same authority, that a considerable lapse of time
intervened before the son-in-law could ' obtain a sight of it.' The excerpts in
Maittaire (Fit. Steph. p. 491) are very interesting.

The character of H. Stephen was far from being amiable. Even the attachment
of Casaubon towards his daughter was somewhat embittered by a consideration
of the positiveness and occasional morosity of the father. Maittaire, however,
(apparently as an antidote to the severity of Mallmkrot's censure) thus places his
defects and excellences into the opposite scales, ' At vero si quis varias ejus
lucubrationes tum editas tum edendas, et praestitas et promissas, perfectas et
imperfectas, quarum passim in vitk, uti fuit occasio, mentionem feci ; si prseterea
varias ejus occupationes et itinera perpendat ; tot potiiis et tanta ab eo praestari
potuisse mirabitur; repet6tque ssepius epigramma a Joanne Posthio Archiatro
Wirzeburgico in Henr. Stephanum compositum.

Et librosfacere, et doctos excudere libros,
Longus titerque labor, durus uterque labor,

Huic gemino iiivigilat paritcr tua cura labori,

Henrice. 0 mird sedulitate visum.'' (Almeloveen, p. 94. )

Henrici ingenium (nec enim ejus culpas celabo, ne per earum dissimulationem
ejus laudes in dubium veniant) fuit pauld arrogantius et raorosius, qua propter et
omnibus non placuit, et sibi ssepe cum viris quibusdam eruditis rixas concivit.
Vit, Steph, p. 485. I shall conclude this account of Henry Stephen with a fac-
simile of his hand-writing (free and noble as his press-work !) taken from a copy
of his ' Thesaurus,' given, (as it imports) to the library of the University of
Heidelberg ; and formerly in the possession of Messrs. White and Cochrane. For
the fac-simile I am indebted to Mr. David Constable, a young and zealous wooer
of all that belongs to sound classical bibliography, and of no mean promise in
the profession (bibliopolistic) which he hath chosen for his future eminence.

FIFTH DAY.

sideration, lay a great stress upon such exception. His early
love of travel and of observation — especially of every thing
in the shape of a MS. or Printed Book — was regulated and
matured, as he grew up, by great critical knowledge ; and if
he seemed, like the Porson of his day, to have an intuitive
tact and perception in the decyphering of MSS., his eager-
ness to publish what he found new and interesting led him
occasionally to the commission of errors, and to be charged
with wilful misinterpretation. His merits however are so
transcendant, that, like specks upon a mirror, his errors can
never dim the general effulgence of his fame. Contemplat^
now his principal Device, and bid him farewell !

FIFTH DAY

Lorenzo. Do you say nothing of Francis and Charles
Stephen ?

Lysander. Only that they were the brothers of Robert,
and consequently the uncles, of the great Henry. Yet
Charles, who practised both physic and printing, was no
contemptible proficient in the latter art ;* and to Francis we

* yet Charles — was no contemptible proficient in the latter art.] Maittaire dis-
patches his hiography in about nine pages : but he adds a very interesting appendix,
from which (extracted from Menage's Anti-Baillet, cap. 59) the following may be
worth repeating. They are the verses of Antoine Bdif, son of Lazare de Bail,
and a former pupil of Charles Stephen :

Je ne fus pas si-tot hors de I'enfance tendre

La parole formant, qu'il fut soigneux * de prendre

Des maitres le meilleur, pour des lors m'enseigner

Le Grec & le Latin, sans rien y ^pargner.

Charles Estienne premier : disciple de Lazare

Le docte Bonami : de mode non barbarre

M'apprint a prononcer le language Romain &c.

En I'an, que I'Empereur Charles fit son enti'ee

Repeu dedans Paris, I'annee desastr^e,

Que Bud6 trepassa, mon pere, qui alors

AUoit Ambassadeur pour vostre aieul dehors
I Du Royaume en Almagne, et menoit au voyage

Charles Estienne ; & Ronsard, qui sortoit hors de page :

Estienne Mcdicin, qui bien parlant etoit :

Ronsard, de qui la fleur un beau fruit promettoit.
In his Annal. Typog. (vol. iii. p. 119) Maittaire favours us with the following
epigram by J. Vulteius, to Charles Stephen ; in which Vulteius unites the names
of ColincEus, Robert, Francis, and Charles, in neatly-turned strains of panegyric :

Ad Carolum Stephanum.

Vobis quid Stephanis, Roberto,
Francisco, tibi Carole, et trium uni
Vitrico facili rudis juventus :
Nostro hoc tempore, sseculo hoc beato.
Franco principe, diligentias ergo
Non debet ? magis ipsa bis duobus
Debet mehercule, quam omnibus magistris,
Professoribus, atque paedagogis.

* Son pere Lazari de Baif.

FIFTH DAY.

are at least indebted for a device of rather unusual elegance.
You shall be convinced that I do not speak loosely. Gaze
and admire.

Vestri namque opera et labore factum est,
Ut ail nunc habeant libri Latini,
Quod non di scare quisque per se & absque
Praeceptore queat ; nec est necesse,
Nostra ut natio Gallicana posthac
Ad scolas properet, vel ut niagistrum
Simplex turba, tenella, delicata,
Clamantem audiat, audiat tonantem,
Aut sceptrnm videat, minasve spectet
Doctoris ferulasve murmuraulis.
Thesaurus mihi Gallico-Latinus
Robert! Stephani, viri elegantis,
Certus testis erit ; breves libelli,
Perdocti tamen, utilesque nuiltum,
Vestes, vascula, naviumque forraae
Horti, semina, queis docentur a te,
Augebunt etiam fidem : probati
Vitrici typus, officina, prtelum,
Nec me vana loqui satis loquentur,.
Francisci quoque niduli librorum
Tersorum, quibus explicatur omue,
Phrasis quod capit utriusque linguse
(De linguis Latiaque Gallicaque

FIFTH DAY.

Philemon. Is there not also another Robert Stephen,
son of the first Robert, and brother of the Henry whom you
have just noticed ?

Lysandek. There is so ; and I love his memory, because

Hie fit meiitio) niduli, inquam, abunde

A falso mea vindicare possunt

Isthaec carmina, et auibus putabunt

Nil a me esse datum suis, probe illi.

Qui vos in cute noverint et intus.

Jam cum, Cai ole, quatuor juventus

Nil non Gallica debeat labori,

Sacras quee studet expolire ad artes,

Vobis quid, rogo, quatuor reponet,

H6c pro munere diligentiaque ?

Nil dignum dare, vel potest parare,

Hoc uimm nisi det, paretque, avitum

Nomen quod sonet : ergo det juventus

ViTRico, et Stephanis tribus coeonam.

Hendecasyllab. lib. iv. edit, Colin. 1538, p. 99.
It should seem that our Charles was a physician as well as printer — a union of
professions, I believe, never since exhibited in the same person. Whether he had
ever any glimpse of the • eau medicinale,' I will not take upon me to determine ;
but certain it is he appears to have been a successful practitioner in cases of gout :
for thus the famous Buchanan caroleth his praise, in his ' arthriticaP elegy — sent
to Tastaeus and Tevius in 1544 :

Ssepe mihi medicas Groscollius explicat herbas,

Et spe languentem consilioque iuvat,
Saepe mihi Stephani solertia provida Carli

Ad mala prsesentem ti'istia portat opem. Vit. Steph. p. 176.

Charles died in 1564. He printed only two Greek books : a beautiful folio
Appian in 1551, (of which no tasteful bibliographer can suffer a sound fair copy
to escape him) and a New Testament in 1553, in octavo. See Introd. to the
Classics, vol. i. p. 164. Yet this Testament may be doubted ; as it is given in a
very questionable manner by Almeloveen, and is so noticed by Menage and
Maittaire. He printed however the ' Institutianes Gr. Ling, of Clcnardus' in
1551j 8vo. and some Greek and Lathi excerpts from Prisciau and other authors,
in 1554, 8vo. Of Hebrew (of which he is said to have been a great admirer) he
printed only the Book of Genesis in 1556, 4to.

PnANCis Stephen, his elder brother, requires a merely brief and passing notice.
Maittaire gives only 13 books as having issued from his press ; and of these he
places the ' Vinetum' of 1537, 8vo. as the first. I possess a copy of this not
incurious work (from which the above fac-simile was taken) and another volume,
of the same date, from the same press, not mentioned by Maittaire : accompanied

FIFTH DAY.

he preferred his conscience to the terms upon which he was
to possess his patrimony. Whether this decision was con-
sistent with sound logic — in other words whether tlie ' terms'
which he refused were not wise and judicious, I shall not
stop to enquire — as, to our own feelings and judgment, no
question can arise respecting the superiority of the Protes-
tant faith, as then exhibited at Geneva, to the dicta of the
Sorbonne doctors at Paris : who really, I think, upon the
whole, comported . themselves with unbecoming severity
towards both Henry Stephen and his father. Robert the son,
however, appears to have acted conscientiously,* and as such
let us view his device with satisfaction. There are, I believe,
varieties of it.

with some pretty wood cuts. It is an abridgement of Bajfius ' Be Re Navali,'
1537, 8vo. with the same device. Both works were addressed ' Adolescentulis
Bonarum Literarum Studiosis.' The date of 1571 appears to be the latest of any
attached to the books of Francis Stephen, the elder.

* appears to have acted conscientiozisly.] Maittaire is uncertain whether Robert
was older or younger than Henry, his brother. In 1.563 he was made ' King's
Printer ;' and published Gibier's ' Edict, 6ic. faite per le Roy Charles IX.' &c. in
4to. the same year, so beautifully, that ' the learned from all quarters hastened
to commit their works to his press.' Tit. Steph. p. 505. His father Robert
bequeathed him his property upon condition of his quitting Paris, and returning

FIFTH DAY.

Of the remaining branches of the Stephanine family —
Francis, the second son of Henry ; Paul, also a son of
the same; Robert, the grandson of Old Robert, and

its latter branches seemed to die away ? * . . . Yet that

to Geneva ; but he preferred his conscience to his patrimony. His French verses
upon the death of De Thou are languid and heavy : full however of gentle phrase
and courtly compliment — but why did he omit to notice that Library of which
many of his own books must have formed a part? He died in 1588. Charles
the IXth had a high opinion of him, and sent him to rummage foreign libraries,
and select the choicest MSS. and rarest books. The royal mandate, or commis-
sion-bearing letter, yet exists : but where is the journal or Diary of Robeii
Stephen the Younger, made when he was abroad ? Was it ever printed ? How
many Sovereigns must go towards purchasing a copy of it — if peradventure a
copy be in existence ? A question, too immense and too momentous for instant
solution — and so ' let it pass.'

* the reputation of its latter branches seemed to die away.'] This ' golden-
pippin' conclusion— namely, that on the death of the mother-stock the sub-
sequent grafts produce adulterated fruit, and in the end the very species itself
perishes— seems equally melancholy and severe. But so, I fear, it is. Yet to begin
with the SECOND Francis : who was both a reformist and a learned printer at
Geneva. He pursued a successful career for about 20 years at this latter place.
On returning to Normandy he married Margaret Cave, and had by her two
sous, Gervais and Adrian, and one daughter, Adrienne. The sons were booksellers
at Paris, and the daughter married into the same fraternity. Yet La Caille
observes that he never met with a book printed with the names of either Gervais
or Adrian subjoined. Paul Stephen seems to have been rather ' the darling
of the family.' He was more robust than his brothers, and was brought up under
the immediate eye of his mother. Yet his education was by no means neglected ;
and I am not sure whether he does not, of all his brothers, rank directly after his
father. Almeloveen says that ' he visited London about the beginning of the
xviith century, for the sake of paying a visit to his brother-in-law Casaubon,
then resident there : and among the friends and learned acquaintance whom he
secured, was John Castell, to whom he inscribes his edition (with additions) of
his father's Concordance. At this time probably, says he, he gave his device, the
same as his father's, to one John Norton — then bookseller to king James I!'
Vit. Steph. p. 121. Paul had several children ; among whom were Anthony
and Joseph — ' chosen king's Booksellers at Rochelle ; but who died there, in
October 1629, not long after their settlement : being swept away by the plague.'

FIFTH DAY.

day had shone forth with no moderate lustre throughout
Europe, which displayed the extraordinary talents of the
FIRST Robert, and of the second Henry, Stephen ; and
if the sun of that family set in comparative feebleness of
splendour, its noon-day radiance was felt, acknowledged, and
admired, throughout the whole of the Uterary republic. . . .
Where next shall I direct my steps ?

Lorenzo. Finish with the Parisian printers, before you
take a trip into the Netherlands or Low Countries. What
say you to the Morels, Turnebus, Fezendat,Vascosan,
and sundry other contemporaneous wights ? *

There seems, however, to have been another Anthony Stephen : consult Mait-
taire's Vit. Steph, p. 537 ; p. 550, &c. who, in his Life of Paul, and of this
Anthony Stephen, is more circumstantial and interesting than usual in his minor
Stephanine biographies. There is yet a third Robert and a third Henry
to notice : each using the family device. This third Robert died in 1645,
(Maittaire 541-545) and Henry much about the same period. A Matthew,
and a Joachim Stephen yet appear — but ' Ohe jam satis!' I shall conclude,
therefore, with the eulogy of Borremansius, in his letter to Almeloveen, p. 128.
* Non fuerunt illi Viri, ut vulgus typographorum solet, literarum rudes ; sed
ad tantum eruditionis culmen evecti, ut vel principem locum tueri facile possint,
in priraos Henricus,' &c. The Device of the Stephens had a host of imitators.
Among them, Nicolas Chesneau (1564) and Matthias Hovius(1672) exhibited the
most preferable copies which I have seen ; although that of ' Sin plucking apples
from a tree,' with a human skull, below, of Hovius, is hardly a copy. The Elzevir's
may be considered copyists of the Stephens in the selection of their device;
which, however, to speak truly, was both a diminutive and contemptible imita-
tion of it.

* the Morels, Turnebus, Fezendat, Vascosan, a>id sundry other contem-
poraneous wightsJ] ' Brief let me be ' respecting these typographical heroes ;
eminent, beyond all doubt, as they unquestionably were. Maittaire hath devoteij
the best part of his Mist. Typog. Aliqiwt Paris. 171 7, 8vo. to an account of them ;
and from him, chiefly, the ensuing particulars are collected William Morel
gives a very interesting account of his studies in the prefatory epistle to the
Chancellor Spifame, prefixed to an edition of ' Cicero de Finibus,' whicii issued
from the office of Tiletanus in 1545. This was the first editorial attempt (rf
Morel ; and the epistle will be seen at full length in the Annul. Typog. vol. iii.
p. 429, &c. In 1548 Morel eagaged himself in the office of Tiletanus. In 1550
he printed with Roigny, Martin, and the Du Puis. About the same time

FIFTH DAY.

Lysander. I can only speak of them in the briefest
possible manner : Maittaire having devoted his instructive
pages to an ample account of them. But of all the typo-
Jacques Kerver did some business for him. In 1552 lie was entered of the
society of king's printers, chiefly by the interest of Tumebus, and printed in
conjunction with this latter distinguished artist about four years : Tumebus sup-
plying the Greek, and Morel the Roman, type. In 1555 he received his
diploma of king's printer ; and abandoning his smaller Greek type — ' regios
majores et nitidiores usurpavit,' says Maittaire, with becoming emphasis. He
then seems to have dropt his first device of a Greek Theta, and adopted the
twisted Serpent, as before given. He died at Paris in 1564 ; a victim to his never-
ceasing anxiety and application to business. The eulogy of Maittaire is extracted
in a note in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. 1. p. 302. His brotlier, Fkeueeick,
of nearly equal classical attainments, and a man apparently of a singularly sweet
and winning disposition, married Vascosan's daughtei', and inherited the fortune
of that printer. Frederick was both printer and interpreter of languages to his
Majesty. He died at Paris in 1583, in his sixtieth year : leaving behind three
sons, of the names of Michael, Frederick, and Claude. Claude Morel was
the father both of Charles and Giles ; and adopted the Fountain, as displayed
at p. 101 post ; but being made secretary to the king in 1639, he gave over all the
concerns and materials of his printing office to his brotlier Giles, who probably
printed as late as the year 1647. Let the Family of the Morels rank next to
that of the Stephens in the Annals of Parisian Typography !

Of Adrian Turnebus how can we speak in sufficient terms of commendation,
and where is the well-versed classical student and critic who would not exercise
all his energies in confessing his obligations to him ? He was born in 1512, and
died in 1565 : living in the very vortex of typographical bustle and celebrity at
Paris. As a scholar and printer, he yielded to none ; and he has the honour of
having been tutor to Henry Stephen the younger. De Thou, Larabui, Scaliger,
all the wits, critics, scholars, and eminent characters of the day, showered down
upon him, from their well-replenished cormicopicE, flowers of all colours and
odours, as testimonies of the high opinion in which he was held by them. And
yet what shall we say to the ' scandalous chronicle' of the great Joseph Scaliger ? !
Peruse and pity, chivalrous reader. ' On the day even of his marriage with
Magdalen Clement, so ardently devoted was Turnebus to his studies and pursuits,
that he stole a few hours from the presence of his beloved, to his — shall I say,
more? — beloved books.' See La Caille, p. 129 : (and note, there, the testimonies
of Huet and Montaigne respecting Turnebus). Budaeus did the same ' scandalous'
thing as Turnebus : Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii. p. 383, note.

I possess the quarto volume, published in the year of Turnebus's death, which
is filled with a variety of pieces, chiefly poetical, to the ' illustrious memory' of
that distinguished man, and from which Maittaire has contrived to make eo interest-

FIFTH DAY.

graphical geniuses you mention, Turnebus was undoubtedly
the most learned and distinguished. His thumping volume
of Notes, under the formidable title of Adversaria, has long
received its due portion of celebrity. Let the Ladies examine
for a few seconds the devices of these distinguished printers ;
premising that Turnebus used the twisted snake as before

iug a compilation in his account of the same printer. These pieces are printed by
T. Richard and Frederick Morel ; and one of them (in prose, ' qu£e vere exponit
obitum Adriani Tumebi Reg. Prof.') gives rather a singular picture of his
latter moments. It liad escaped Maittaire. Perhaps he thought it might
unnecessarily swell his account of the life of him. Read his sensible remark at
page 78 of the Hist. Typog. Paris. Turnebus was buried the very day on which
he died ; and neither ' priest nor monk' attended him during his illness. ' His
dying request to his beloved wife was, that when his spirit had ceased to animate
his body, his interment might take place without the least funeral pomp or
expense.' A few sorrowing friends only attended the corpse to the grave.

Michael Vascosan, who ought to have taken precedence of William Morel,
receives very handsome treatment at the hands of Maittaire. He began to print
in 1532, and concluded probably his earthly, as well as typographical, labours in
1576. He first used the Ascensian Press for his device ; as he married Catherine
the daughter of I. B. Ascensius. Maittaire, both in the Hist. Typ. Paris.
(p. 17-32) and Annal. Typog. (vol. ii. p. 544, &c.) is quite enthusiastic in com-
mendation of him. His latter device was a Fountain ; but very clumsily executed,
and much inferior to the pretty fountain used by Comino de Tridino in ] 560, &c,
Fezendat is a great favourite with me, from his Virgil of 1541, 4to., most
elegantly executed, and which, in the old school of bibliography, of the time of
Foulkes and Mead, used to be highly estuiiated, and purchased at a considerable
price. Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 121. note (b) discourses briefly but pleasantly about
Fezendat and his coadjutor Roheut Granjon — whose device, as given at p. 99,
post, in conjunction with Fezendat, was taken from ' Le Tomheau de Marguerite
de Valois, Royne de Navarre' 1551, 8vo, in the possession of Mr. Lang. The
' Viper and Finger ' is the eternal ornament of the books of Michael Sonnius ;
less elegantly executed, however, than the above.

As to ' sundry other contemporaneous wights,' above alluded to by Lysander,
I will not suifer myself to be drawn, by silken and almost imperceptible chords,
into an interminable labyrinth of varieties ; and so, good humoured reader, take
what I happen just now to have at hand. . . Take, first, the device of ' Gekard
MoRRHius, a German;' who printed at Paris (' at the Sorbonne College'} the
Greek Scholia of Didymus upon the Odyssey in 1530, Bvo.: a book of rather
miusual occurrence. Let us hope too, if mermaids do in reality make their

FIFTH DAY. 99

exhibited. William Moeel, the eldest of the family so
distinguished by that name, in addition to the same snake,
used the following device.

The Device of William Morel.

appearance, that such a one as the said Gerard chose to adopt for his device, is
also of ' unusual occurrence.' Was a mirror requisite to give double lustre to such
beauty ?

As the second, take the device of Matthew David— of equal singularity but
of less deformity. He printed ' in via Amygdalina, e regione Collegij Remensis
and had for motto ' Odiosa Veritas' — ' qui nous prend (says La Cailie) par nos

vol. il h

100

FIFTH DAY.

His brother, the first Frederick Morel, adopted a text
of Scripture every good tree bringeth forth good fruit')
rather happily ; as his motto, in the subjoined device, may
testify— a motto, by the bye, which it would be well for the
public if printers would always keep in recollection.

The Device of Frederick Morel.

propres paroles, nous portant le poignard a la gorge.' Hist, de I'lmp. <^c. p. 124.
The ensuing is taken from a small quarto volume containing the Andria, Adelphi,
and Phormio of Terence, (the title-page professing to liave ' six plays,') 1547, 4to.
Da^ad's books are of rare occurrence. The present is rather prettily executed.

FIFTH DAY.

101

Claude Morbl, son of the said Frederick, borrowed or
improved upon the Fountain of Vascosan. Look at this
magnificent display of trickhng streams . . . and wish that,
under the shadow of some wide-spreading oak, you sat near,
disporting yourself with some duodecimo of old poetry
printed upon vellum !

102 FIFTH DAY.

Fezendat used two devices; one, peculiarly his own:
the other, in conjunction with Gran Jon. You have them
both here, and may prefer which you please.

The Device of Michael Fezendat.

The Device of Fezendat and Gr^n Jon.

FIFTH DAY.

103

Almansa. These are vastly pretty. I hope we shall yet
see a score of them.

Lysander. That will depend upon the collection of our
Host. In the first place, let us enter a sort of menagerie of
animals of various kinds, to select what appears to be the
most deserving of admiration. Do look at this plump barn-
door fowl : 'tis the Fat Hen of Cavellat ! * I question if
Bewick could have clothed the creature in more characte-
ristic plumage ?

The Device of William Cavellat.

* the fat hen of Cavellat.'] Cavellat printed in conjunction with Jerom Mamef,
(see page 33, ante) and used in general a different device : his ' Fat Hen ' being
borrowed from Richard — who introduced it with the date of 1540 in the cir-
cular inscription. This said ' Fat Hen,' however, is the real property of the
BiRCKMANS, at Antwerp: Frederick Birckman having published an octavo

104

FIFTH DAY.

In the second place, how like you the Swan of Amazeur,
with the absurd pun upon the celebrated sentence, or motto,

edition of the Latin Bible, as early as 1526, in the frontispiece of which we see
the foUowmg ornament and circumscription :

Prostant in pingui gallina, cum Antwerpi/z apud portam
Camem, turn Colonia. circa templum Cathedrale.
Messrs. Arch have a vastly pretty copy of this bible, in the italic type-' elegan-
tissimis typis excusa.' I am not sure whether Arnold Birckman were not the
first who kept and • fattened' this ' Hen :' At least his heirs used the followmg
device.

CoLONIAE.

Apud H<Eredes Arnoldi Birck-
manni. Anno 1562.

FIFTH DAY.

105

which is supposed to have led Constantine the Great to
victory? I own these conceits are mightily foolish.

The Device of Iohn Amazetjr.

Thus have we recreated ourselves with the ' Fat Hen ' of Cavellat. Among
the more singular devices of printers, of this period, we may notice that of Peter
Haultin ; prefixed to his Greek Testament of 1549, 8vo-

106

FIFTH DAY.

Pursuing our animal speculations, let me bespeak your
commendation of the Tortoise of Cyane and Foucher.

TECVM HABITA.
The Device of L. Cyane and I. Foucher.

Lorenzo. There is some point in the motto used by
Messrs. Cyane and Foucher. They wish their books, Hke
the tortoise, to be stationary in our libraries. Where such a
frontispiece is the prelude to innocent recreation, or in-
structive sentiment, the tortoise of the said Messieurs shall
be my constant household companion. But I suppose there
is no end to similar embellishments ?

Lysander. They are doubtless very numerous. Hark !
the very woods around us re-echo as if to the roar of some
immense African lion . . .

Belinda. What mean you ?

Lysander. I mean the device of the Lion used by
Mylius at Strasbourg . . but no . . we have not yet reached
that tremendous animal. Yet I knoAV not whether the more
quiet and stately attitude assumed by the Lion of Nicolas
Couteau, also a Parisian printer, be not as deserving of
respectful admiration. The motto on the scroll purports his
paws to be resting upon a shield bearing the arms of
Florence.

FIFTH DAY.

107

The Device of Nicolas Couteau.

LiSARDo. A very model for ' Snug the Joiner ' to exhibit
— at the next representation of the Midsummer-Night's
Dream ! Let me here however make a remark before you
dismiss your Parisian Devices . . . With one exception only,
(which concerns Claude Morel) all the devices which you
have laid before us appear to be cut vfon wood. Can you

108

FIFTH DAY.

favour us with no other Copper-Plate representations ? And
when did the latter begin to predominate ?

Lysander. I will favour you with two more only; premis-
ing that they abounded towards the middle of the sixteenth
century — especially at Paris and Amsterdam. Take, there-
fore, the Sacrifice of Isaac as used by Louis Vendome, and
the Two Storks of Sebastian Cramoisy*. . . It is now,
however, time to put an end to the bibUographical recrea-
tions of the Day. Methinks you have seen pictures enough
for one morning . . . and I am at the close of my Parisian
researches. What say the ladies ?

Belinda. The ladies will be influenced by the decision of
the gentlemen ; and more especially by that of the Monarch-
qftJie Day !

Lorenzo. As Lysander appears to have got through his
Parisian printers, he may probably wish to postpone the
remainder of his typographical researches till the morrow.
There is yet, I perceive, an abundant harvest to be gathered
in such a disquisition ?

Lysander. Undoubtedly : although it was my ori^nal
intention to have carried you through the Low Countries
in the course of this morning. Lyons, Louvain, Antwerp. . .

Lorenzo. Let us travel in those places to-morrow. Our
eyes begin to be dazzled by the number of grotesque and
extraordinary ornaments which you have already placed
before us.

Lysander. It shall be as you wish ; although the clouds
seem to be gathermg in the horizon, and I fear we must not
set our hearts upon a stroll in the garden before dinner. The

* the Stmks of Sebastian Cramoisy.] See the opposite Plate. The Storks-
■were a common device of the printers in the 16th and 17th centuries. Nutius
used them at Antwerp, in : 577, with a serpent j and Sebastian Nivelle had.
them» frightfully cut in wood, in 1574.

FIFTH DAY.

109

BUliard-Table, however, may supply the want of out-door
exercise ; and to that diversion I strongly recommend you —
premising, that we have no anecdotes of Gering's disporting
himself in the like recreation ! While you are occupied with
your queues and balls (for I cannot affront the gendemen
by supposing the mace to be called into play) I shall make
arrangements for travelling to-morrow into the cities just
mentioned. A tidy workman keeps his tools in order. I
shall therefore replace what has been taken down for your
gratification to day, and prepare the materials for your
entertainment to-morrow.

So courteous a conclusion drew forth the liveUest marks
of approbation. On the morrow, Lysander — having aU his
Devices and Portraits, &c. placed before him in the order
in which he meant to deliver his typographical lecture —
continued in the following manner.

ARGUMENT,

The Jhrtner Subject continued, including some Account of
early Printing at Louvain.

N the ornaments which excited
so much of yesterday's attention,
you could not have failed to ob-
servCj upon the whole, a deficiency
of correct taste and classical com-
position. I admit, however, that
to a bibliographical antiquary, or
to a bibliomaniaCf if you please,
(for Lisardo, I know, prefers the latter appellative) such
ornaments cannot fail to be interesting. Even their capri-
ciousness secures for them a sort of respect or attachment ;
considering that age generally gives a sanction to everything,
however in itself destitute of propriety of character. The
very snuiF-box, cane, coat, badge of privacy, or of public
deportment, which belongs to a character of eminence and
celebrity, assumes, by association of ideas, a more than
twofold degree of interest ; and we should prefer the jacket
which Schoiffher wore, when he worked off the sheets of the
first Psalter, to the ermined robe of the judge who awarded

114

SIXTH DAY.

restitution of the monies due from Gutenberg to Fust.
Thus, even a spHnter of the deck of the Victory (the ship in
which Nelson fought, conquered, and died) has more charms
in our eyes than the most highly wrought piece of ebony or
satin-wood, in the repository of the most fashionable up-
holsterer in the metropolis . . . and thus Wellington's blue
great coat, worn by him at the ever-memorable battle of
Waterloo, would, with hearts accustomed to beat to true
patriotic impulses, assume a tint of more magical hue than
all the splendour even of a Chinese Emperor's wardrobe. So
covet, I beseech you, the quaint and queer devices of the
Marnefs and Kerveks of ancient days ; and never fancy
your copies of the works of those printers complete, unless
they possess the banners, as it were, of the chieftains to
whom they belong.

We left off, I think, with an account of Parisian printers.
The next city, in interest and magnitude, to the metropolis
of the empire, is Lyons. Who first, Lisardo, primed and
brandished the Prmter's balls there ?. . .

Lisardo. Some ancestors of the well known De Bures —
if a late publication be correct.

Lysander. The ' late publication' to which you allude
is correct; but the information may be considered incom-
plete— although the De Bures have certainly the merit of
having patronised the first book printed at Lyons. That
book, however, is of the date of 1473 and not of 1 476.* I

* of the date of 1473 mid not of 1476.] In (he Bibl. Spencenana, vol. iv.
p. 523, the ' Legende Doree' of 1476, is supposed to be the first book printed at
Lj'ons. The autlioi-'ity of Panzer, vol. i, p. 529, seems to countenance such an
inference ; but both the authorities are here wrong. Mr. Grenvilie is the
fortunate possessor of a small quarto volume, containing five ti'eatises, chiefly
theological, of which the last has a colophon subjoined giving us the un-
equivocal date of 1473 : — and of an earlier date than this, I believe no speci-

SIXTH DAY.

115

shall say little or nothing of subsequent efforts of the Lyons
press, till we reach the time of Jodocus Badius Ascensius;
at once a scholar, critic, and printer. Few characters stood

men of Lyonese printing is known to exist. I shall indulge the curious reader
with the quaint title and colophon of this 5th treatise :
1 Spurcksimi Salhane litigationis : rfer

alisqz nequitie procuratoris : Cotra ge

nus humanu Cora domino nostra Ihe

su xpo agitate Beata virgine Maria

eius matre pro nobis aduocata et capa

rite. Liber feliciter incipit.
Has title is on the 68th leaf of the volume, and the colophon is on the reverse of
the 82nd and last leaf of the same :

Scelestissimi Sathane litigationis
Contra genus humanum: Liber
feliciter explicit. Lwgdump[er]ma
gistrii guillermu regis huius
artis Ipressarie expertu : hono
rabilis viri Bartholomei bio
yerii dicte ciuitatis ciuis
iussu <^ suptibus ipressus
Anno verbi incamati
. M.CCCC.Lxxiii.
Quitodeclo Kal ;
Octobres

The work is destitute of signatures, numerals, and catchwords ; and is executed
in a full-faced, angular gothic type — similar to that of the Legeiide Dor6e —
and very irregularly printed. The author of these five treatises was Cardinal
Lotliarius, afterwards Pope Innocent VIII. Mr. Grenvilie possesses a reprint of
the latter work (which should seem to have been once rather popular) executed
at Vienne in Dauphiny in 1478, and the ^rst book also prmted in t/iat place.
The type is a close, full-bodied gothic : of a Col(;gne character. The colophon,
on the recto of the 14th and last leaf, is thus :

Scelestissimi Sathane litigacionis .
Contra genus humanum . Libei- feliciter
explicit . Vienne . per magistntm lohan-
nem solidi huius artis impressorie exper
turn. Anno incarnacionis . M . CCCC .
Ixxviif.

The Lyons impression was unknown to Panzer. In regard to the earlier Lyonese
pointing, consult the desultory notices of the Abbe Rive in his ' Chasse aux

11«

SIXTH DAY.

upon higher ground than did this distinguished man ; * and
his enthusiasm for the Art of Printing" was equally manifested
by his selection (the first, I beheve, upon record) of a press

Bibliographes,' pp, 167-9, 243, &c. : and further remark, that he says ' his master
possessed a small quarto book printed at Lyons in 1473, of the greatest possible
rarity, and for which the English and Germans had often tempted him w ith the offer
of 60 Louis : ' but he would not part with it. Can this be any other work than the
one possessed by Mr. Grenville ? I|should think not. Further remark . . . respecting
the ' Roman de Baudoin/ of the supposed date of 1474, printed at Lyons . . .
Gordon de Percel gives the title of this work at length, with the dates of 1474,
1478, as Lyonese publications, Bibliotheque des Romans, vol. ii. p. 222. Marchand
follows him in the earlier of these dates : Hist, de Vlmprim. p. 66 : citing Gordon
de Percel and the Cat. de la Princ. de Condi, p. 31. Mercier follows Marchand ;
doubting the existence of the date of 1474, and calling Lenglet du Fresnoi (who
assumed the feigned name of Gordon de Percel) ' a very bad authority in matters
of editions,' ^Suppl. p. 66. The Abbe Rive, as usual, pursues Mercier pretty
briskly ; and apparently, it should seem, upon the authority of Maittaire's Index,
vol. ii. p. 502 — which had corrected a supposed error in the eai'lier volumes,
(vol. i. p, 390 ; vol. i. of Index, p. 120) in having assigned the date of 1478 as
the^rst of the Roman de Baudoin — believes in the accuracy of the date of 1474,
and abuses Mercier for hidirectly censuring Gordon de Percel and Marchand.
But neither of these latter authorities, nor Rive himself, ever saw the Romance
alluded to with the date of 1474 : nor do I believe such an edition to be in existence.

* this distinguished man.] Maittaire has devoted ' a good round dozen ' of his
instructive pages to an account of Iodocus Badius Ascensius : see his Annal.
Typog. vol. ii. p. 72, &c. The subject was worthy of such dilation. This eminent
printer, scholar, commentator, and critic, commenced his career at Lyons as
corrector of the presses of Trkchsell ;ind de Wingle ; and by some felicitous
correction, alteration, or composition — call it by what name you please — he after-
wards married Tiielif, the daughter of Trechsell, and, on the death of his
father-in-law, went to Paris to establish himself as a printer there. ' Some
Orations of Politian ' bear evidence of the existence of the ' Ascension Press' as
early as the year 1495 at Paris : see Panzer, vol. ii. p. 309, no. ■*o53. Badius
at first printed in conjunction with Petit, Bocard, Roche and others ; but quickly
afterwards commenced business on his own account. Meanwhile, a son (Conrad)
and three daughters were the fruits of his union. Of these daughters, Petroniljla,
the eldest and probably the cleverest, (and who understood Latin nearly as well
as her native tongue) was united to Robert Stephen : see p. 82, ante : the
second was married to Vascosan, and the third to Roigny — so that more
thoroughly-professional unions could not have been devised or entered upon.

Ascensius returned to Lyons about the year 1516 or 1518 ; and from that
time, to his death in 1535, maintaining a society with the most distinguished
literary characters of the day, (especially witli Budaeus and Erasmus, who had

SIXTH DAY. 117

for his device, by the number of most admirably-useful
works which he published, and by eating his Christmas
dinner (as we must take it for granted he did) with his three

each an high opinion of him) he put forth a number of editions of the best Latin
classics: his Greek fount of letter, both at Paris and at Lyons, being miserably
defective. He was a great admirer and imitator of Aldus ; but equalled him
only in diligence and perseverance : see the pleasing notes in Maittaire, vol. ii.
p. 79. Respecting those who imitated his device, (above given) he always
maintained an immoveable neutrality. Indeed his equanimity and amiable
feelings seem to have been the delight of his friends, and the envy of many of his
contemporaries. As to his literarj' enthusiasm, chance has supplied me with the
following animated passage — taken from his Aulus Gellius, printed by Granjon
in 1518, 4to. — from which the reader may appreciate the quantity of com-
mendation that is due to him. It is from his concluding address, on the reverse
of fol. CLxvii : ' Volumina commentariorum ad hunc diem. xx. iam facta sunt.
Quantum autem vitae mihi deinceps Dei voluntate erit : quantumque a cura
publica, et a re familiari procurandoque cultu liberorum meorum dabitur otium :
ea omnia subsiciua, et subsecundaria tempora ad colligendas huiusceraodi memo-
riarum delectatiunculas conferam. Progredietur igitur numerus librorum dijs
bene iuuantibus cum ipsius uitae quantuli quique fuerint progressibus. Neque
longiora mihi dari spatia viuendi volo : quam dum ero ad banc facultatem
scribendi commentandique idoneus.' &c. This latter sentence is vehemently and
gloriously characteristic !

His decease was marked by numerous epitaphs, of which some are given by
Maittaire. Among them, take the following, latinised from the Greek — each by
Henry Stephen, the son of Robert,

Hie, liberorum plurimorum qui parens.
Parens librorum plurimorum qui fuit,
Situs loDOcus Radius est Ascensius.
Plures fuerunt liberis tamen libri
Quod jam senescens cccpit illos gigncre.
iEtate floreus ccepit hos quod edere.
Maittaire, in his Fit. Steph. p. 190, gives the following monumental inscription,
apparently upon the authority of Chevillier.

L'Epitaphe de Josse Bade, Michel Vascosan, et
Frederic Morel a St. Benoist, ou ils sont enterr^s.

Portrait de
Jod. Badius.

DD. O. M.
B.Q. V. M. S.

Portrait de
so Femme Thelif
Trechsel,

Viator, artes qui bonas piasque amas,
Siste hk. Quiescunt subter illustres viri.

SIXTH DAY.

Sons-in-Law, also printers of eminence, who partook of
turkey and quaffed Burgundy by the side of him ! Happy
banquet ! , . . where new works of curiosity or of interest
were projected ; anecdotes, perhaps of Jenson, Gering, or
Froben, imparted ; and avowals of friendship, or of enthu-
siastic attachment to the art which they professed, made
and re-echoed the live-long night — even till the snow upon
the surrounding country became tinged with the pinky
light of the morning ! To speak soberly; I told you, if you
remember, that Ascensius chose a Press for his Device : but
whether first at Paris, where he first commenced business, I
am not able to speak with decision. Among the varieties of
this ' AscENsiAN Press,' the following, I believe, are of the
most frequent occurrence.

The Device of I. B. Ascensius.

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of the Same.

Jacet loDocus hie Baditjs Ascensius
Candore notus scriptor et scientiL
Gener Iodoci Vascosanus prope situs est,
Doctissimorum tot parens voluminum,
Socer MoRELLi Regis olim Interpretis :
Musarum alumni quae gemuut hie conditum
Fceddsque Federici ademptum sibi dolent.
Tres cippus unus hie tegit cum uxoribus
Lectissiinis et liberorum liberis.

120

SIXTH DAY.

The Press became shortly afterwards rather a fashionable
ornament to the frontispiece of a book_, and was adopted by
a number of printers.* Ascensius enjoyed an abundant
share of reputation till his death, in 1535; when he was
succeeded by his son Conrad, who, together with Robert
Stephen, his brother-in-law, retired to Geneva from the
religious persecutions of the day, and there carried on their
peaceful and profitable labours unmolested,

Hos Christus olim dormientes suscitet
Ad concinendum Trinitati almse melos.

I. X. e. Y. c.

Look also at La Caille (p. 72-3) for one minute ; and wish, curious reader,
that you possessed the ' Opera Sti. Brunonis CaHhudanorum Fundatoris,' 1524,
folio — from the Ascensian Press — with its ' petites figures en bois, qui rend cette
Edition tres rare !'

* The press — was adopted by a number of Printers.'] By Vascosan, Roignj^
and others : see note (e) in Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 77. This adaptation was of course
tolerated among his relatives ; but they sometimes stole Ascensius's iiame; and in
the 'avaut propos' to his ' Calepini Dictionarium,' of 1516, folio, Badius warns his
readers ' not to pay attention to works in which his name is surreptitiously in-
troduced, but to look well after his device of the Press.' Chevillier, p, 208. It
was certainly natural that printers and publishers should adopt so appropriate
an ornament in the frontispieces of their books. We see it thus — in ' The Artes
of Logike and Rethorike, ^c. by M. Dudley Fenner.' Qvo. without date, but appa-
rently at Middleburgh, in the middle of the sixteenth century.

And, perhaps of an earlier date, in ' The Ordenaryfor allfaytltfull Christian, <SfC.
Translated out of Doutche into higlysh by Anthony Scoloker. Imprinted at

SIXTH DAY.

121

I may probably be censured for not noticing various
other Lyonese printers, of eminence in their day, during the
latter part of the xvth and the beginning of the xvith
century — but referring you to the methodical and instruc-
tive pages of Panzer,* and just lapng before you the very

Ippeswych by Anthony Scoloker, &c, 1548, 8vo. — where, on tlie reverse of D iij, it
is iutroduced as a subject in the text of the work.

This book, both in the embellishments and text work, is of sufficiently barbarous
execution. But I must make the reader acquainted with some poetical strains,
beneath a similar ornament of a press, of much clumsier execution, which I found
in the heterogeneous mass of Bagford's collection, in the Harl. MSS. no. 5915.

Loe here the forme and figure of the presse
Most liuelily obiected to thine eye.
The worth whereof no tongue can well expresse'
So much it doth, and workes so readily :
For which let's glue vnto the Lord all praise.
That thus hath bless'd vs in these latter daies.;

I know nothing of the date of ' these latter dsaes,' but conjecture the poetry
to be of the end of the xvith century. Note further : lohn de Preux used a
very neat device of a press, modelled upon that of Ascensius, in 1587. Ibid.
Le Preux however printed at least twenty years earlier.

* the methodical and instructive pages of Panzer. J Consult the Annales Typogra-
phici, vol. i. p. 529 ; which contain an account of 268 articles printed at Lyons in the

VOL. II. I

122

SIXTH DAY.

singular device of Huguetan — an early printer in the xvith
century — (see how whimsical these ' auncient' printers were)
let us proceed to the notice of a family of printers, of no

xvth century ; and among which, the New Testament in French, of the supposed
date of 1477, is distinguished for its rarity and curiosity. The Abbe Rive
notices this impression of the sacred writ Of the earher Lyonese printers, few,
if any, exhibited so much skill as Martin Husz — ' vir diuini ingenii artis sue
peritissimus : acri cura ac diligentia impressam et eraendatara ut ulteriori lima non
egeat, &c..' This is the language of the colophon in ' Odofred's reading upon the
Justinian Code,' 1480, folio. Panzer, vol. i. p. 532, no. 1 9. The Rev. Mr. Rice
possesses a copy of the well known Bartholomaeus De Prop. Ber. in French, with
the date of 1491, folio : which appears to be printed by Matthew Husz, M. A.
I av ng th • d vii e of wild men — and presenting a gothic letter, of the middle size,
a o. ,ce sh rj.. n at, and well executed.

SIXTH DAY.

123

ordinary celebrity in their day. . . I mean, the Gryphii ; * of
whom you may remember some slight mention was made in
yesterday's discussion. The elder Gryphius, Francis, may be

* The Gryphii.] Bajle has a short (but, as usual, interesting) article relating
to Sebastian Gryphius, and to his son Anthony. He adduces the laudatory
testimonies of Conrad Gesner, the elder Scaliger, Du Verdier, and Chevillier, to
support his own favourable criticism of the eminence of these printers, and
especially of Sebastian — ' fameux Imprimeur de Lion an xvi. siecle. II exerfa
sa profession avec tant d'honneur, qu'il merita que de fort habiles gens lui en
donnassent des louanges publiques.' Dkt. vol. ii. p. 612-3. Maittaire (vol. ii.
p. 562-578) follows in the same order: expressly subjoining the testimonies
alluded to by Bayle, and adding that of Stephen Boletus, for whom Sebastian
printed the famous 'Commentaries of the Latin Language,' 1536-8, folio : of which
presently. He concludes with a list of books executed in the office of Sebastian.
Nothing can well exceed the testimonies of approbation expressed by the elder
Scaliger, Doletus, and Gesner. Learning, ingenuity, celebrity, beautiful and
accurate printing — all seem to have been the qualifications and attainments of the
elder Gryphius. Ge.sner, who dedicated to him the xiith book of his Pandects,
is, as usual, uncommonly frank, interestuig, and enthusiastic in his commendation.

Chevillier is highly complimentary ; and speaks of the excellence of Gryphius
in printing Hebrew. L'Orig. de Vim-prim. p. 150, &c. Bayle shrewdly remarks,
' it must not be forgotten that Sebastian Gryphius was learned and he subjoins
an anecdote, from an epigram of Vulteius, that ' Robert Stephen corrected
books extremely well — Colinaeus printed them with the same degree of ex-
cellence— but Gryphius knew both how to print and to correct with equal skill.'
Here is the original :

Liter tot norunt libros qui cudere, tres sunt

Insignes : languet ciEtera turba fame.
Castigat Stephanus, sculpsit ColinjEus, utrumque
Gryphius edocta mente manuque facit.

His accuracy is considered as remarkable; since, in the ' Commentaries' before
mentioned, consisting of two large folio volumes, only 8 errors are mentioned in
the ' Corrigenda ; ' and what is curious, Sebastian was so anxious to give the
reader a notion of the correctness of his Bible of 1550, that he placed the trifling
' errata' immediately after the title page. A physician of Cologne, of the name
of Adam Knouf, was one of the correctors of his press. Sebastian died in 1 556,
in his 63d year ; and ' Anthony his son, walked in the footsteps of his father, in
the same town, worthy of the celebrity of his parent.' Du Verdier has an
interesting passage relating to father and son. After telling us that Sebastian
restored the art of printing at Lyons, then beginning to decline, and that his
founts of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman characters were ' quite new and very
beautiful,' he proceeds thus : ' Les Potites de son temps I'ont apell6 I'excellent

124

SIXTH DAY.

said to belong to Paris; but Sebastian and Anthony
must be reserved for Lyons; while a brother, of the name
of John, kept up the celebrity of the family name in his
publications at Venice. These printers are rather distin-
guished for the number of their smaller or dugdecimo pro-
ductions, which are executed in the Italic type of a form at
once elegant and legible. Their larger type, whether italic
or roman, is however extremely handsome and agreeable to
the eye; and in their Bible of 1550 they exhibited the
largest fount of Roman letter which, at that time, had ever
been used. Their device may be considered a sort of pun
upon their name. Lorenzo, I observe, has not collected all
the varieties of the Lyon-Griffin; but what you here behold

Tryphon de nostre aage duquel Martial fait m^moire. II a este le receptacle
des gens scavaiis, diligent et curieux a chercher par tout les bons livres qui
estoyent perdus (au moins bien esgarez) par I'injure du temps, pour iceux trouvez
les restituer et faire jouir la posterity d'un tant rare tresor, dont le Seigneur
Antoine Gkyphius son fils en a encores une bonne partie a imprimer, et comrae
son pere n'a rien espargn6 pour les fecouvrer et apres fidelement mettre en
lumiere, ainsi 11 n'est chiche et de son labeur et de son bien a les faire sortir en
publique.' Anthony is however accused (and very justly) by De La Monuoye,
of havmg neglected the later publications of his press, and having used worn
types. ' He printed vfdl (continues this author) when he pleased, and has been
said to equal his father in erudition!' Jugemens des Savans, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 45-6.

Bayle says there was * a printer at Venice of the name of John Gryphius.'
This is true enough ; as the beautiful device, above exhibited by Lysander, is
taken from one of two works, published the same year, 1547, in 4to. of which
Lord Spencer possesses copies. On the left of it, we read virtvte dvce : on the
right, coMiTE FORTVNA. They are small volumes, and hardly of sufficient im-
portance to have their titles repeated : but this John Gryphius, who I take to be
also a son of Sebastian, is rather an uncommon, as well as elegant, printer ; as his
name is not mentioned by Maittaire and later bibliographers. See the Index to
Maittaire, vol. i. p. 460. Even Panzer has omitted to notice him, vol. xi. p. 289.
Mr. Beloe describes a rare edition of Aristophanes, edited by Canmius, of which
John was the printer ; but says he has ' not been able to discover any other work
printed by this John Gryphius.' Anec. of Literature, vol. v. p. 182-3. Lysander
has justly noticed the prodigious number of books, chiefly of small dimensions,
which have issued from the press of the Gryphii. When copies are clean, and the
paper happens to be white (a rare occurrence with books from this press) the

SIXTH DAY.

125

were the most commonly adopted. Beware of the uphfted
paw of either of these winged monsters !

The Device of the Gryphii, at Lyons.

effect of the Italic type, used chiefly by these printers, is exceedingly pleasing. In
general, however, their boqks liave a coarse and repulsive aspect. A word, in

126

SIXTH DAY.

Sometimes, however, this formidable griffin or dragon
was enshrined in a border, or frame-work, of no incurious
texture. But, of this nature, none of the brothers or sons
exhibited a more splendid and elaborate specimen than did
John, who resided at Venice. I congratulate Lorenzo on
the following beauteous sample of Venetian art.

The Device of John Gryphius.

coQclusion, respecting their Device. Francis, whom we have briefly noticed
(p. 69-70, ante) as a Parisian printer, used sometimes a most formidable griffin,
upwards of 3 inches high. Sebastian, like John, occasionally encircled his griffin
in frame-work ; but with less richness and tastefulness of effect. This device
was imitated, among other printers, by Giovanni d' Antonio degli Antonij-, at
Milan, in 1560 ; by Thomas Boyzola, at Brescia ; by Juan Gracian, at Aleak, in

SIXTH DAY.

137

What have we here? A rival sample of curious and
tasteful composition in the device of Guillaume Rouille,*
also a printer at Lyons. I am doubtful however to which
to assign the palm, on the score of elegance ; although there
is probably more grace and flow of line (as artists call it) in
what you here behold. The accessories, it must be confessed,
are very gracefully managed. But what will strike you as
rather a whimsical coincidence, the eagle, at the summit of
the wreath, towards which the serpent seems to pay a
respectful deference, is precisely the Eagle of Napoleon
Bonaparte — as we see it in the several trophies, deposited

1573 ; and by Leon Cavellat, at Paris, in 1578 — ' rue S. Jean Latran au
Griffon d' Argent :' having a fine griffin at tlie end, witli his fore-paws on a
shield, and tl)e monogram of N D C. (Bagford's Collection,) A quatrain from G.
Paradinus Anchemanus may probably close this ' griffin' discussion with good
effect :

In effigiem Clarissimi Viri etjklicis Memori/E
Sebastiani Gryphii, Tyjjographi.
HfEC oris probitas, auimi ceu teste refulgens,

Indicat ingenu&, fronte quod intus erat :
Doctrinam omnigenani, studium de plebe merendi,
Candoremque piS. mente, trilingue caput.

Maittaire, Annal. Typog. vol. iii. p. 570.
* the device of Rouille.'] The beautiful specimen of the device of Guillaume
Rouille, or Rouville, above exhibited, is taken from a rare quarto tract, in
the possession of Mr. G. Hibbert ; of which the following is a memorandum,
committed to paper some twelve months ago. ' magnificence <le la superbe et
triumphante entree de la noble et antique Cit6 de Lyon faicte au Treschrestien
Roy de France Henry deuxiesme de ce Nom, Et a la Royne Catherine son
Epouse le xxiii. de Septembre. m.d.xlviii. A Lyon, Chh Guillaume Rouille a
VEscu de Venice. 1549. 4to. Avec privilege.' The privilege, on the back of the
title-page, states the ' inaccurate, lying, and erroneous' previous publications upon
this subject. Rouille, ' marchant Libraire de Lyons,' has an exclusive privilege
for the present — to print it in Italian or French, in large or small size, with or
without cuts. The cuts, representing the shews, &c. are pretty — and that of the
Bucentaur vessel (L 2, rev.) is very clever. This is the same printer of whom
such honourable mention is made in vol. i. p. 276. His usual device is a small
eagle, between two spiral snakes, erect. Of Rouville, read somewhat ' plesaunt'
in Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 145.

128

SIXTH DAY.

in the chapel at White-Hall, which were won in the cam-
paigns of the illustrious Wellington !

The Device of Guillaume Rouille.

Hark ! Did I not hear a shriek — as if from some tortured
and half-dying human creature ? — or was such sound
merely imaginary, on viewing the singular device of the
bosom friend of Sebastian Gryphius ? ! Unhappy Doletus !*

* Unhappy Doletus f] In the year 1779 appeared a work entitled ' Vie
D'Etienne Dolet, Imprimeur a Lyon dans Le Seizieme Siecle ; avec une notice des
Libraires et Imprimeurs Auteurs que Von a pu dtcouvrir jusqu'a ce jour J 8vo. A
copy of this unusual book is in my possession ; but there are copies, upon large

SIXTH DAY^

129

'tis the emblem of thy press which I now behold ! Taste,
wit, diligence, and erudition, were all combined in this ex-
traordinary character — who equally fell a martyr to his own

paper, in 4to., (so says tlie advertisement prefixed) of which only 25 were
printed — ' en faveur des curieux ' — and of which I must at present content
myself with hoping to possess one! Yet, it must be frankly owned, after an
attentive perusal of the 103 pages of Maittaire, in his vol. iii. p. 9-112 ; of the
21 pages in NiSeron, vol. xxi. p. lOT-fiS ; and of the 10 pages in Goujet's
Bibl. Francoise, vol. xi. p. 193-203 — not much remains to be urged in favour of
the said ' Vie d'Etienne Dolet,' of which there appear to be 25 copies, on large
paper, ' en faveur des Curieux !' Gogue and Nee De La Rochelle were the
publishers of this latter work, at Paris; and I suspect had not attentively read
the articles which had appeared in Bayle (vol. ii. p. 301, edit. 1730) and La
Croix du Maine, and Du Verdier, upon the subject of Doletus — as they quote
Goujet concerning the death of that unhappy printer, whereas Bayle is more
curious and particular.

What shall we say, then, respecting Estienne Dolet .'' He was born in 1509,
and died in 1546 ; a period, too short for highly-gifted talents under the direc-
tion of good taste and sound judgment — which, however, Doletus does not ap-
pear to have possessed. As to his being a natural son of Francis I., that notion
is properly confuted in the 8vo. volume of biography just mentioned. Doletus
lived in a perpetual state of mental and bodily activity, — except when the
movements of the latter were restrained by the prison-bars of Toulouse ; for he
seems to liave been pretty frequently incarcerated there. He was probably rather
an unfortunate than a guilty character. Some ill-omened star seems to have
always directed his proceedings. He abused Erasmus ; preferring his own style
and that of Longolius to the compositions of that distinguished character. Yet
he gained the friendship of Budaeus, to whom he laid open his own ' life, cha-
racter, and behaviour.' His ' Commentaries of the Latin Language,' published
in his 28th year, in 1536-1538, 2 volumes folio, and containing, in the whole,
three thousand four hundred and twenty-four closely printed columns, besides 120
pages of preliminary pieces, is unquestionably a most wonderful performance —
' Grvphe (says Gogu6) n'a rien 6pargn6 de ce qui pouvoit contribuer a Ja perfec-
tion de la partie typographique de cet ouvrage ; et le titre est decore d'un cadre
fort bien grave en hois, ou paroissent les images des plus grands Philosophes et
des Savans les plus illustres de I'antiquite,' p. 86. Read Maittaire, and all the
subsequent bibliographers, for the verses (beginning

Prima meiE monimenta artis, monimenta juventse

Prima meae, tandem auspiciis exite secundis :)
prefixed to the first volume. The work is dedicated to Francis I. (who was
always the friend of the author, when he could be so) and to Budaeus : and we
are informed that ' the volumes contain an infinite number of anecdotes respect-

130

SIXTH DAY.

imprudence, and to the unrelenting severity of the religious
persecution of the age. Happy . . had the axe which severed
the block, divided also the head from the body of him who
chose it for his device. Doletus was hung and burnt in his
thirty-seventh year ! !

The Device of Stephen Doletus.

iug the author, the leai-ned of his age, and the literary quarrels of the Ciceroniaus
against Erasmus.' They are also lull of digressions ; indicative of the enquiring,
curious, and ever-agitated mind of the author. The second volume is said to be
rarer than the first.

Gogue, p. 48, gives a list of the ' condemned books ' published by Doletus.
They seem to be a strange melange, and of very opposite tendencies. Maittaire
has a sensible remark, worth clothing in an English dress. ' I have never (says
he) been sufficiently able to discover why Doletus should have been persecuted
with so luckless a destiny : yet I cannot dissemble that he is sometimes rather
free m his writings, and guilty of introducing a few profane expressions — at least,
of expressions which may receive such construction by malevolent readers.'
Maittaire then subjoins some singular passages, from the commentaries, and the
Genethtiacum, illustrative of this criticism ; and rather defends Doletus, from the
example of Heathen classical writers. ' Le Second Enfer d'Estienne Dolet, en
vers,' prhited and published by him in 1544, ISmo., at Lyons, (' Le Premier

SIXTH DAY.

131

Belinda. Frightful association of ideas ! Let us pass on
to more pleasing objects.

Lysander. Readily. Philemon, if you remember, spoke
with rapture of the press of the De Touenes. That press
however was not more distinguished for the elegance of
its publications, than was the press of the Fke li ons or the
Frell^i ;* and if Lisardo and Almansa will take my advice,

Enfer ' being a mere non-entity ') is among the more curious and scarce produc-
tions of its author ; and Gogue tells us that Goujet is the only one who has read
this poem so as to have thoroughly comprehended it. Doletus wrote it when he
was in prison, and borrowed the title from the ' Enfer ' of Marot. It is also
among the last of his publications, for he was hung and burnt at Paris on the
3d of August, 1546, ' as an atheist ' — protesting, in his latter moments, that

'HIS WOEKS CONTAINED MANY THINGS WHICH HE HAD NEVER UNDERSTOOD.'

What an emphatic declaration ! What a warning to the living ! He perished on
the anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Stephen ; and, just before strangulation,
is said to have exclaimed — ' O my God, whom I have so often offended, be mer-
ciful: and thou. Holy Mother, and Holy St. Stephen, intercede for me, I pray,
at the throne of Grace.' These words were reported to Florent Junius, by a man
who was present at the execution ; and the account of the same, by Junius, will
be found in Almeloveen's Amcmitates Theol. Philolog. 1694, as referred to by
Bayle. The secret history of this blood-thirsty transaction is perhaps yet to be
revealed. From all that we can at present collect, the Judges of Doletus were
his murderers ! Let the volumes from the press of this luckless printer be clad
in a sombre garb — in morocco, black as ' the jet of raven's wing !'

* the Presses of' the De Tournes and the Frellons.] It is melancholy to
read such a passage as the following, in a note by Mercier, at p. 66 of his Suppl.
' Les Husz, les Trechsel, les Gryphes, les Badius, les Rouilles, les Frelons, les De
Tommies, &c. ont hoi)or6 Lyon par leurs presses. Aujourd'hui I'liDpriinerie est
assez negligee dans cetle Ville, ou, comme I'a dit un raauvais ])]aisant, " I'on
aime mieux les Lettres de Change que les Belles-Lettres ! " ' Will Monsieur
Delandine write 3 octavo volumes to refute this calumny, as companions to his
three similar tomes, entitled ' Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque de Lyon, ou Notices
sur leur Anciennet^, leurs Auteurs,' <^c. 1812 ? Let us begin with the Frellons, as
they take precedence in Baillet. Read, first, old Conrad Gesner's gossipping
dedication to John Frellon, wherein he calls to his recoUectiou a visit which
he paid hira, nine years ago, at Lyons, when his brother Francis was living.
How gratifying must the following testimony have been — ' Quanquam aliis (it is
old Conrad speaks) Typographis ejus fere generis libros dedicaverim, in quo ipsi
plurimos excuderunt, hi te tamen, vir humanissime, qui multa et varia publicasti,
idem non observavi, sed quamvis occasionem, qua me tui amantissimum tibi pro-

132

SIXTH DAY.

they will leave no stone unturned towards filling their back-
drawing room book-case with choice copies of the precious
little volumes which issued from their offices. In those

bareni, arripiendam existimavi. Vale, et optimis quibusque libris imprimendis,
rem literariam longe elegantissiniis typis tuis juvare et omare perge : ' Maittaire's
Annul. Typog. vol. iii. p. 143. This is just praise ; for the press of the Frellons
is eminently distinguished for its ' elegance.' After such a testimony, it will be
only necessai-y to refer the reader to the account in Baillet, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 47-9,
concerning an anecdote of Saurius (the corrector of the Frellon press) upon the
authority of Du Jon, which regards some suppressed leaves of an edition of the
works of St. Ambrose, published by J. Frellon.

Of the De Tournes, Baillet mentions Jean, Antoine, and Samuel, Of
these, the fii'st was the most distinguished. Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 493, is com-
paratively brief, but extremely interesting, relating to him. He gives us the
decided eulogy of Casaubon respecting the accuracy of his press ; and a mightily
pleasing commendation, both of the printer and the press, by Borluyt. ' I lately
(says the latter) fell in with Jean de Tournes : a man, (ye Gods !) of what feeluig
towards sti'angers — what familiarity towards his friends — and of what integrity
and kindness towards all !' Borluyt thus addresses one of his own works, printed
in the office of J. de Tournes :

Gulielmus Borluyt libello sua, ut accedat Joannem TorruEsium adolescentem.
Ergo, liber, vulgi temerarius ibis in ora ?
Nec niemor Icarii nominis esse potes ?
&c. &c. &c.
Sic te defendat Tornaesius ore deserto,
Percharus Musis, indole et cgregia.

As we are here disporting ourselves with hexameters and pentameters, take,
metre-loving reader, a few more similar specimens — relating to the devices of
some eminent printers, including our Torn^sius :

Obruerant tristes jam prorsum oblivia musas,

Nec coetus vitae spes erat ulla sacri :
Anchora cum jacta est mediis Aldina procellis

Cyrrhaeumque labans pondere sistit onus.
Sustulit hinc dextra geminos Frobenius ungues ;

Cui recti et prudens simplicitatis amor.
Virtutem inde levi Sortis comitante volatus

Semifer annexam Gryphus ad alta vehit.
Vipertz et involvens geminm Torn^sius orbem.

Nil aliis fieri, quam cupit ipse sibi.
Vestra opera ipsa cohors jam pene extincta revixit ;
Atque inter proceres sustulit alta caput.

SIXTH DAY.

133

volumes you see Holbein and Bernard to every possible
degree of advantage. Let us contemplate their devices with
proportionate satisfaction; premising that other varieties
may be adduced, although in the second of that of Tournes
we see the rarer and more elegant production.

The Devices of Jean De Tournes.

As a specimen of J. de Tournes's execution of wood-cuts, let the coUectof
search high and low for a fair copy of his New Testament, printed in the Italian

134

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of the Frellons.

Of minor typographical artists at Lyons, there would
scarcely be any end to the discussion. Be contented, there-
fore, with what Lorenzo has here brought together — and
Avhich exhibit rather whimsical and extraordinary specimens
of the devices of Lyonese printers in the middle of the xvith

The Device of Balthazar Arnoullet.

language in 1556, 12rao. The cuts are wonderfully minute and beautiful. Sir
Hudson Lowe possesses a most desirable copy of this estimable little volume ; and

SIXTH DAY.

135

It is rarely you see candles placed in these situations : but
I own there is somewhat of point in the conceit of Durant.

The Device of Antoine Vincent.

la mettre sons le rauy : mais

The Device of Zachary Dueant.

It is now high time to bid adieu to Lyons, and to con-
clude our researches into the early history of printing in

90, 1 believe, does my friend Mr. Douce — than wlom no man entertains a more
profound respect for the productions of the Frellons and the De Toumes. The
Device of Jean de Toumes, first above given, is seen on a larger scale in his
Foissart ; and the more elegant one, given below, of Cupid contemplating the
sun, is taken from ' Leon Hebrieu, de V Amour,' 1551, 8vo. 2 vols. : a work

136

SIXTH DAY.

France. Yet I could say a soft and favourable word for
Abbeville *. . .

LisARDO. And many ' soft and favourable' ones for
Rouen, I trust : the immediate foreign mart for this country.

Lysander. Lisardo, I see, is thinking of Tailleur and
Valentin. Suppose however we begin with Robin Gual-
TiER . . . as his device happens to come first in the list

elegantly printed in the italic type. Such device is comparatively uncommon.
J. de Tournes was pretty much occupied in publishing the pieces of Bernard
Salomon : see vol i. p. 182, &c.

* a soft and favourable word for Ahbeville.'} The town of Abbeville, from which
John king of France commenced his march, at sun-rise, towards the fatal plains
of Poictiers, was eminently distinguished, in the x vth century, for the beauty
of its typographical productions ; and yet Panzer notices only three works as
havmg issued from the press of that town during the same period! Pierre
Gerard, in conjunction with Iehan Dupre (see p. 33, ante) seems to have
been the principal, if not sole, conductors of the first Abbeville Press; and who-
ever has had the good fortune to spend some half dozen minutes over the French
version of St. Austin, ' De Civitate Dei,' of 1486, (fully described in the Bibl.
Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 176-8) will be convinced that the eulogy above bestowed,
upon the press of which we are speaking, is, in every respect, just and well
merited. That work is supposed to be the earliest production of the same press.
The wood-cuts, with which it abounds, are clearly of the French school ; and I
feel a strong persuasion that the artist, or artists, who worked for Verard, worked
also for Gerard.

The early printing at Abbeville is very much superior to that of Lyons. Thus,
without being led astray by the general splendour of the ' Cit6 de Dieu,' just
mentioned, let the reader only examine the well-an-anged and well-executed
work entitled ' Le Triumphe des neuf preux,' &c : to wit, the Nine Worthies
ycleped ' Joshua, David, Judas Machabeus, Alexander, Hector, Julius Cesar,
Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey de Boulogne, avec lystoire de Bertrand de Guesclin,
printed by Pierre Gerard in 1487 . . . and what must be his sensations of plea-
sure .'' Not so much for contemplating a scarce and curious book, as for being
pleased, and perhaps astonished, at the wood-cut portraits of the personages just
mentioned. These are indeed of no very moderate calibre ; whether for size or
spirit of execution. I'hey are in outline, and each ♦ preux ' Chevalier is put into
a sort of ferocious attitude, as if striding ' from pole to pole.' Hector, in particular,
has a magnificently original air and gesture ! Mr. Grenville and Mr. Lang each
possess a copy of this very I'are and beautiful book ; the foimer, in an imperfect
state — ^but Mr Lang's copy is ' de toute beaute.'

SIXTH DAY.

137

of those of early Norman printers.* 'Tls a very droll one,
as you must admit.

* early Norman .Printers.] In strict justice, Guillaume Tailleur, who
assisted our Pynson in the publication of French Law Tracts {Typog. Antiq.
vol. ii. p. vili. • Richard Pjnson ') should have been first noticed by Lysander.
Tailleur, was also a brisk pruiter of Romances and Chronicles. In his earliest
pieces he styles himself ' natif et demourant a la parroisse Sainct Lo a rouen.'
(Denis, Suppl. p. 227, no. 1787). Jehan Le Bourgeois was another early
distinguished Rouen printer ; who executed tlie first two parts of the Romances
of Arthur and Lancelot du Lac, in 1488, the third part having been printed at
Paris by Vei ard : see page 30 ante. Le Forestier was another early and brave
typographical wight at Rouen : nor mnst we forget the very pretty and striking
device, executed in red, with the head of a blackamoor printed in black, towards
the bottom) of Martin Morin — who had probably more business than either
of his contemporaries. Yet the earliest printed book at Rouen, of the date of
VOL. II. E.

138

SIXTH DAY.

William Tailleur was the friend and correspondent, if
not the partner, of our Richard Pynson ; so that you can
have no objection to take a glance at his device, barbarous
and gothic as I fear you will pronounce it to be.

The connection between this country and Rouen, which
was opened by Tailleur, seems to have been kept up in the
middle of the sixteenth century, if not later, by the typogra-

1483, is without tlie name of a printer : see the description of the ' Coustumier
du Pays de Normandie,' in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iii. p. 295— a work, (as
was to be expected) of which the reprints are endless. I suspect that Raulin
GuALTiER did not put his press in motion till towards the beginning of the xvith
century. His device, given in the preceding page, is taken from an edition of
' Theodolus, cum Commento,' printed in 1507, 4to. Both the Regnaults (see
p. 54, ante) and P. Olivier were eminently distinguished at Roueu during the
first 20 years of the same century.

SIXTH DAY.

139

phical talents of Robert Valentin ; * Avhether a descendant
of the renowned hero ot" romance, of the same name, the city
archives of Rouen do not, I apprehend, very satisfactorily

* Bobert Valentin.'] The annals of RobertValentin's press, if fully detailed,
would, in all probability, be extremely interesting to the English antiquary.
Valentin, I suspect, was an engraver as well as printer ; because, in the volume
of ' Heures a lusaige de Costaces hysloriees toutes an long,' 1552, from which the
above fac-simile of Valentin's device is taken, contains, in the wood-cuts, descrip-
tive of the chief occupations of each month in the Calendar, the initials R. V. at
the bottom of each cut : but this might have been a precaution only to prevent
their being pirated by other printers. These cuts are oval, within a square
ornamental border, and are equally common and codrse. The same initials appear
in all the other cuts; evidently the production of the same hand. There are
some French metrical pieces in this volume : namely, a version of the ' Stabat
Mater,' beginning thus :

La mere de dieu tant eureuse

Estoit pres la croix douloureuse

Voyant son filz mort esteudu.
&c. &c. &c.

' Le Chapelet de Jesus et de la Vierge Marie ;' Oraisons a la Vierge Marie ;' Auc
Angelique saint ; Aultre oraison a la glorieuse Vierge Marie ; and Oraison tres-
deuote des Troys Maries : the latter beginning thus :

Troys seurs de noble lignage

Par ce nom Maries noramees

Chascun doibt a vous de couraige

Recourir pour voz renommees

Jesuchrist vous a tant aymees

Que de vous troys a voulu faire

Ses mere et antes tant famees

Quon ne pourroit voz sainctz noms taire
&c. &c. &c.

Dreary numbers these ! Take now, auncient metre-loving reader, a different
specimen — in our own language — but certainly of an earlier date. I introduce it
in its present place, because it is executed m a sharp gothic type, evidently of
foreign execution, and, not very improbably, from an ancient Rouen press.
Prefixed to the verses (six stanzas in the whole) is a wood-cut of two female
figures — ' Pacience and Yre'-— each ou horseback : the former of whom is running
her spear into the sides of the latter, prostrate upon the ground. This cut is
horizontally oblong, with a close -dotted or dark background ; and the figures,
especially the countenances of the women, in profile, strongly resemble those
of the astrological decorations of Missals, of which fac-similes are given in vol. i.
p. 100. Perhaps these may be of Parisian execution.

140

SIXTH DAY.

determine. His device, borrowed from Kerver's, is probably
not so despicable. These unicorns were great favourites.

And than whan don is this assaut
On the sljal come a tyraunt daungerous
Whose name is yre wilhouten faut
To al vice fyers and desirous
And vnto vertue alway contrarious
The wliiche is seruauntes doth abouude.
He may wel fay that he is eurous
Whonie this vice doth nat confounde

Cruehie bereth his banyer
Felonye is his chef cainpyon
Peruersyte is his portere
Madnes reyneth in his dongeon

SIXTH DAY.

141

Much as I love the early history of Norman Literature,
and much as I would give for a thumping quarto volume of
the early history of Printing at Rouen, I must now really
put an extra-pair of horses to my travelling vehicle, and
conduct you with me into . . .

Belinda. Be not in haste, dear Lysander. Remember
how frequently I have heard you, in your sleep, pronounce,
in a half-muttering tone, the name of Conead de West-
phalia ! ?

Lysandee. Most true it is, my excellent Belinda. To
Louvain then, we go, in the twinkling of an eye. From
Louvain to Antwerp, and from Antwerp to Ghent! . . What
say my auditors ?

Loeenzo. I will answer for them. Proceed ; we shall
follow wheresoe''er you lead the way. There were how-
ever, I think, two early printers with the adjunct of ' De
Westphalia ? ' *

Cursed murder that fals felon
Of his hous is as chief captayne
Here is a cursed religyon
To him that foloweth their trayne

Therfore if yre do the distresse
Shewe thy force and tliy puissaunce
Cal vnto the debonayrnesse
Agaynst yre a ful myghty launce
With hyr shal come fayre sulFrauce
Pacience is chyef, with discressyon
Stedfastiiesse with attempraunce
Siibduynge the vnto correccion

There are three more stanzas, each upon ' Ire.' Who is the author of tliese vigo-
rous measures ? Are they from some edition qf the ' Calendrier des Bergers ?'
They were found in a single leaf among the chaotic materials of Bagford's col-
lection in the British Museum.

* two early printers with the adjunct of' De Westphalia.'] We should pro-
bably speak of. John de Westphalia in the f.rst place; although, indeed, we
know hardly any thing about Conrad — as both Panzer and Lanibinet ' have

142

SIXTH DAY.

Lysander. Right; and you have here the genuine
portraits of both of them — Conrad and John ! The first is
very uncommon.

The Portrait of Conrad de Westphalia.

The Portrait of John de Westphalia.

observed a profound silence' (to borrow a current phrase) relating to this latter
printer. John de Westphalia has been thought to have commenced printing at
Alost in 1474, with Theodore Martens, who had published a work in the
preceding year : see the Bibl. Spencer, vol. iv. p. 554, and the note at page 555,
which may be considered a satisfactory refutation of the existence of any book
exhibiting such a union of names, at the time, and in the place, just mentioned.
John de Westphalia did, in fact, commence his typograpliical career at Louvain
in 1474; and continued, to the close of the xvth century, to put forth various
elegant and interesting volumes, of which several are eminently distinguished for
the beauty of their execution. Lambinet has devoted a great portion of the
second volume of his Origine de Vlmprimerie, to an account of J. de Westphalia's
press. The porthait of this printer, above given, makes good the promise held
out in the Bibl. Spenc. vol. iv. p. 521. It was taken from an edition of the
Kaetspele, or Game of Chess, in Dutch, printed by J. de Westphalia in 1477 ; and
may be compared with a similar exhibition, by Lambinet, vol. ii. p. 18, where it
appears in the centre of a colophon to the ' Breviarium Jo. Fabri,' without date.
I have a suspicion that Lambinet liad his block, for the purpose of making a like
fac-simiie, cut u little too heavily.

SIXTH DAY.

143

LiSAiiDo. ' Ah sure a pair was never seen'. . .
Almansa, ' Cease your funning.'

Lorenzo. Order. Let us pay more respect to the velvet

But concerning Conrad de Westphalia what is to be advanced? Who
speaks of him ? And where lurk the shy volumes which own him for their typo-
graphical master ? In that repertory of almost every thing which consummates
the wishes of the most costly, or the most curious, collector — and can I allude to
any other ' repertory' than to the Library of Earl Spencer? — in that same
repertory, then, be it hereby made known and ' noised abroad,' there does repose
one solitary volume, in folio, of the date of 1476, of the aforesaid ' bashful '
printer, ' Conrad de Westphalia!'. . but that volume is a sort of bibliographical
treasure in itself. In the first place, after premising that the copy of it, which is
tall, broad, fair, and sound, was obtained from the choice repository of Mr'. R.
Triphook, bookseller, the reader may not object to know that this very copy has
a fly leaf, each side of which contains a ms. copy of a letter, signed ' Georgius
Eboracensis : ' (qu. the then Metropolitan of York ?) one of them dated ' Ex manerio
de More Kalend. Decembribus : — the other, ' ex Domo nostra iuxta Westmonas-
terium. quintodecimo kalend. Decemb.'-^ the beginning of which strongly proves
the bibliomanical propensities of the said ' Georgius Eboracensis.' These copies
are clearly of the xvth century. On the following leaf the first sentence of the
text informs us that the work contains ' forms of epistles, for the sake of compo-
sition or exercise, among youth, taken from the most approved Collections, and
published for the Scholars of the Louvain Academy,' &c. The preceding may be
considered as tiie gist of this introductory sentence ; and Lambinet tells us that
CharlesVirulus was author of the work ; who, for fifty six years, was President
of the College of Lys, in Louvain — for which it was expressly composed. What
is singular, Lambinet describes an edition of this very date, as from the press of
Veldener, to whom, he says, ' the author gave the work for the purpose of print-
ing.' Consult his Origine de I'lmprimerie, vol. ii. p. 83-5. The concluding epistle
of Veldener certainly resembles, in part, that of Conrad de Westphalia. But
Lambinet would not have omitted to notice the portrait of Conrad ! Probably the
one borrowed the colophon of the other, substituting the respective name of each
as the only alteration. Let us revert now to the volume before us. It is des-
titute of numerals, signatures, and catchwords; and the presumed portrait of
the printer, as above given, is on the recto of the 72nd and last leaf. On the
reverse of the same leaf, we read the following very curious Advertisement — as it
may be called :

Alue. Si te forsan amice di][e]cte nouisse iuuabit quis hui9
voluminis impressorie artis perductor fuerit atq; magister
Accipito huic artifici nome ee mgr5 Conbado de Westuas
LiA, cui q certa manu isculpendi, celandi intorculandi,
carracterandi, assit industria: adde et figui-aadi et effigiandi et si qd

144

SIXTH DAY.

caps of the De Westphalia ; for John is a great favourite
with me.

LrsANDER. And may justly be so with all of us. But
while we are within this ancient and extensive city, let us

in arte secreti est qd tectius occulitur : q qz etia fidoru comitu p[er]spicax di
ligentia vt omniu Irarum imagines splendeant ad graz : ec etiam cohe
sione ogrua : grataq; ogerie : raendis castigatis opendeant. tanta quide
xinitate q partes inter se et suo cdgruant vniuerso : vt quoq; delcctu
materia spiendoreq; forme lucida qz p[ro]mineat : quo pictionis et conex
ionis : pulchre politure clariqz nitoris ecrescat multa venustas. sunt ocli
iudices ; Idnam satis facies hui9 libelii demonstrat : que multiplicatu
magni numeri globe sub placidis atrameti lituris : spreto calamo icho
auit, -ani septuagesimisexti decembris primus : que artis meorate mgrm
si tibi hocpredco anno cure fuisset querere. facile poteras eunde louanij
imp[re]ssioni vacante : inplatea sancti quintini inuenire Hoc ideo dixisse
ve'im ne eius rei insci9 permanseris : si forsitan ambigcris. Vbi ars illi
sua census erit Ouidius inquit. Vbi et etiam viuit sua sic sorte et arte
Dtent9 : ta felicibus astris : tanta quoq; fortune clenietia : vt non inducar
credere q eide adhuc adesse possit abeundi : ne cogitandi quide, animi
impulsio : id etiam adiecerim quo tam quod poteris q quid potuisses
agnoscas ; Vale.'

A more pompous, barbarously-written, but whimsical srfld rather amusing
colophon, lias perhaps never since made its appearance! We gather from it,
however, that Conrad de Westphalia, like that flourishing fellow-artist and towns-
man, John Veldeneu, was a printer, letter-founder, painter, and engraver. lu
the Low Countries, during the xvth century, these qualifications were frequently
united in the same person. Further, we learn from it, that Conrad de West-
phalia printed the book in 1476, and that he lived in St. Quintin's Street, at
Louvain. The worthy Conrad is then pleased to subjoin, that ' he wishes us to
know this fact, lest we should be ignorant of it, and thus go floundering on in
uncertainty' (for so I choose to translate ' si forsitan ambigeris') . . .Thanks, gentle
Conrad ! As to the typographical execution of this very singular and rare volume,
the letter itself is of a thin secretary-gothic cast, having a scratchy effect ; and
both the type and the printing are very much inferior to what we see in the pro-
ductions of the brother, John de Westphalia : who, to say the truth, may be
called the Prince of the Louvain Printers!

A word further about Veldener. Read some few lines relating to him in
the Bibl. Spencer, vol. iii. p. 349 : and know that a Dutch version of the Fasci-
culus Temporum, of the date of 1480, finished by him on St. Valentine's da3', in
folio, contains the wood-cuts referred to in the last mentioned aulhority. They
are small, in outline, and quite of a Flemish cast : but the pruiting is of that full-
faced flowing form (too heavily imitated at page 377 of vol. iv. of the last men-

SIXTH DAY.

145

look around for some other printer's portrait. What have
we here ? A laureated Typographer !

The Pobtrait of Servatius Sassenus.

Yet I am not quite so certain about the legitimacy of this
portrait*. . . but of legitimate and illegimate portraits, anon.

tioned work) which I cannot but think was taken for the model of the types both
of some of Caxton's, and of those of St, Alban's Abbey. Veldener delighted in
flower-bordered embellishments, as the first page of this Dutch version abundantly
proves; while the capital initial T is precisely the same capital which was used by
Caxton in his Golden Legend of 1483 or 1493 : see the fac-simile of it in the
Typog. Antiq. vol. i. p. cxxiv. Veldener began to print as early as 1475. One of
his devices (two shields, with a triangle within one of them) has been given by
Lambiuet, vol. ii. p. 83. His other device was a coat of arms, shield argent,
supported by lions, with a helmet for the crest : very barbarous — enfiladed by a
border, in better taste.

* the legitimacy of this /wtrait.] It appears both in the frontispiece and at the
end 'of a work entitled ' Damianus Goes, de Bella Camhaico Ultimo,' with the
following imprint : ' Lovanij : apud Servatium, Sassenum Drestensem. Anne
M.D.XLix. Mense lanuario.' 4to.

Let us now turn our horses' heads towards Antwerp.

146

SIXTH DAY.

All hail to thee, Gerard de Leeu !*. . for thou wert a
diligent and spirited artist ; and thy tomes are coveted, as
they merit to be, in the land which gave birth to thy con-
temporary, and perhaps correspondent, William Caxton.
I consider De Leeu, upon the whole, (speaking with
becoming sobriety) to have been a very tasteful as well as
popular printer. His types have a fine jolly aspect, and
require less the aid of spectacles than those of Godfrey
Back . . . another early Antwerp printer — who used, as you
will presently see, a very uncommon, gorgeous, and whimsical

* All hail to thee, Gerard de Leeu .'] Lysander has good reason to ' hail' this
enterprising typographical genius. As Visser and Lambinet have devoted several
pages to an account of his labours, there is no necessity to be minute in the
present place. De Leeu printed with various founts of letter, all gothic ; some-
times large and broad-faced, at other times small, sharp, and angular. His
' Chronicle of England,' after Caxton, (see Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iv. 229,) and
his ' Dialogus Creaturarum,' &c. (for a matchless copy of which, from Colonel
Stanley's collection, the Duke of Devonshire gave, with a becoming bibliomaniacal
spirit. Forty Two Pounds ' of lawful money of Great Britain ') are specimens of
some of the varieties of his larger type, used in a folio form ; while his duode-
cimos, however executed, exhibit good taste and skilfulness of press-work. De
Leeu was an indefatigable printer, in the Flemish, Dutch, and French languages ;
and Romances, Books of Devotion, and Chronicles, were constantly pouring forth
from his press. Happy the bibliographical antiquary who possesses three rows,
only three feet each in length, well laden with the treasures of Master Gerard De
Leeu — who executed about 32 works at Gouda, and 56 at Antwerp. I shall only
further observe, that De Leeu began to print at Gouda in 1476, and at Antwerp
in 1484 — not in 1480, according to Maittaire, vol. i, p. 414 : ' The Romance of
Jason,' from Caxton's edition (by the bye, I have a shrewd suspicion that ' our
well-beloved ' Caxton and Master Gerard liad a considerable intercourse with
each other — were their epistles written in Flemish, French, or English ?) was first
executed by De Leeu in 1492 : see Typog. Aiitiq. vol. i. p. 58-9 : where a fac-
simile of the title is given — exhibiting letters of precisely the same form as are
seen in that of the ' Chronicle of England.' Yet the ornament beneath this latter
title is in purer taste, and rather skilfully executed. De Leeu's great device of
the Castle of Antwerp is given in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 230 : but it
may be observed, from the lower fac-simile of the opposite page, that the same
castle was generally introduced into his devices.

SIXTH DAY.

147

device. But, first, for the devices of our beloved De Leeu ;
which, to speak truly, are not a little gothic and barbarous.
His Castle of Antwerp is much more shewy, but more
common.

The Devices of Gerard De Leeu.

SIXTH DAY

Godfrey Back sliall now astonish you with his Bird^Cage,*
and the Castle of Antwerp suspended thereto

The Device of Godfrey Back.

* Back with his bird-cage.} ' But where' — sharply exclaims the typographical

SIXTH DAY.

149

As we advance towards the middle of the sixteenth
century, in the Anyials of the Antwerp Press, we are struck
with the respectable name of Vostkeman,* and are always
disposed to gaze with becoming admiration upon the
magnificent Black Eagle which seems to keep the said

antiquary — ' where are Matthias Goes, Theodohe Marte>'s, and Colard
Mansion— all distinguished printers of the LowCouiitries — what have they done
to be discarded from this memorial of typographers of ancient times ?' I answer,
they have done nothing — deserving of a studied exclusion ; only that, as Lanibiiiet
has been equally particular and copious relating to the triumvirate just men-
tioned, (consult also, for one moment, pp. 554-6 of the Bihl. Spenceriana, vol. iv.)
and as Mons. Van Praet holds out the delightful threat of giving us a volume
expressly relating to a few of these heroes, and especially to Colard Mansion,
his countryman — the aforesaid typographical antiquary will not, it is presumed,
' fret and fume,' unnecessarily and unconscionably, respecting the omission com-
plained of. As for Godfrey Back, he was a late printer in the xvth century,
at Antwerp, and employed a particularly sparkUug middle-size, or rather small
gothic-type ; and, like Gerard de Leeu, adopted frontispieces in which a gentle-
man with a plume of feathers usually made his appearance. His coloplions often
make express mention of the ' mercantile tcwn' of Antwerp. Indeed, at this
period, Antwerp was no ordinary place of resort and wealth.

* the respectable name of Vostreman.'] William Vostreman was one of the most
considerable or popular printo's at Antwerp about the beginning of the xvith
century ; and I should apprehend, for nearly 40 years, he carried on liis suc-
cessful career. Perhaps he had some yjartnership account with the Petits, at
Paris ; as his device, smaller than the one above given, is sometimes found in a
shield with Petit's lions as supporters. The above device is taken from a small
and ■ffery rare tract (and Cha,ufepi6 tells us* every thing is interesting concerning
rare books :' Life of Servetus, 1771, 8vo. p. 39) entitled ' La tirumphunte entree
et couronnement de Feniant de la Royalle maieste de Honguerie, et de Boheme
faicte a Stoel Wittenburch, Oct. 31 1 1527,' printed by Vostreman ' en la rue de la
Chambre, a la Licorne dor. Dec. 18, 1527, 4to. in the possession of my friend
Mr. Lang. Graph.'eus and the Birckmanns (see p. 104, ante) were also
distinguished Antwerp printers, of the same period with Vostreman ; and the
device of the * Hand and Pen' of Graphaeus is no bad pun upon his name. Yet
why should Panzer (vol. xi. p. 203-1) omit the name of Iean Loe (could he
have been a relative of Gerard de Leeu) in his list of Antwerp printers ? He
was not probably aware of an edition of La Sanite Bible, enfrancois, of the date
of 1548, in two volumes, folio, printed by the said Loe — of which a copy upon
VELLUM was sold at the sale of the Soubise library (^BibL Soubise, no. 137) for
680 livres !

150 SIXTH DAY.

castle of Antwerp under the protection of its overshadowing
wings.

The Device of Guillaume Vostreman.

But see ! . . what stately Personage seems yonder to walk
across a monastic quadrangle . . . and what noble building is
the one we are now beholding? 'Tis Christopher Plantin,

SIXTH DAY.

151

and his Printing- Office ! * Illustrious man, and venerable
abode ! — where the puncheons and matrices yet remain which
once astonished Europe with the result of their operations.
I am speaking soberly, when I own that, of all the printers

* Christopher Plantin and his printing office.'] It is hardly possible for a
mere reader, un^¥al•med and uninfluenced by the least spark of typographical
enthusiasm, to conceive the chagrin which I am at this moment experiencing by
being compelled to reduce my Memoranda Plantiniana within the parsimo-
nious lunits of a note of some two hundred and forty lines. But so it is : and yet
many pleasant things may be said within such a space — especially when filled
by brevier types, like the present ! First then, know, benevolent reader, that
almost every authority, referred to by Maittaire, (vol. iii. p. 543-559) is at
this instant either before, or on one or the other side of me. Where shall I first
alight ? Foppens will be a good summarist : as indeed he is first enlisted into
Maittaire's service. From him, we learn, supported by the authorities of Guic-
ciardini, De Thou, and Scribanius, that Plantin was born in the diocese of Tours
in 1514 ; and Chevillier seems not a little proud in claiming him for his coun-
tryman— ' Ce sont les Francois (he observes), qui ont fait les plus beaux Ouvrages
de ITmprimerie.' p. 58. O rare Andre Chevillier ! However, Antwerp is the
seat of Plantin's glory. Tt is supposed that he made his first experiments at
Lyons; and on establishing himself at Antwerp, he looked about for learned
correctors and experienced pressmen : yet so scrupulously nice was he in the
accuracy of his printing, that like another Robert Stephen, he exhibited or hung
up his proof-sheets for public inspection and detection of errata. Mallinkrot and
Baillet are here my authorities. As to liis office, Guiccardini says ' it was one
of the noblest buildings of the day.' There he kept all his press-apparatus : his
types, (some of silver, as it is imagined, but this requires confirmation) liis
matrices, his warehouses, his di'ying-rooms, and every thing ' thereunto apper-
taining.' You have here, gentle reader, botli a detailed account of this printing-
ofiice, as it noio exists, and a copper-plate view of that side of the ' quadrangle,'
above-mentioned by Lysander, which is exclusively devoted to it : each being
supplied me by the pen and pencil of the same ingenious and well-versed anti-
quary in matters of this nature. The drawing was made on the spot. But
the general description must precede the view.

' Plantin's house stands in the ' Friday Market,' as it is called, near the Scheld.
The principal front of the building is a heavy, regular, piece of architecture ; it
has been somewhat modernised, but the well-known device of the founder [see
p. 159. post] still retains its place in the pediment of the arclied gate-way. The
interior fonns an extensive quadrangle, and has every appearance of being in its
original state. In the early half of the 17th century it was visited by Goltzius,
and from the description which he has given in his Itinerary, it seems that since
his time, at least, it has not undergone any alteration. On entering the quadrangle.

152

SIXTH DAY.

whose works have ever adorned the literary republic, none,
I think, stand upon so broad and lofty a pedestal as Chris-
topher Plantin. Jenson and Robert Stephen had equal

the Printing Office [as in the view helow] is on the left hand side. The bust in
the second window, is that of Plantin. The one over the door represents John
MoRETus, the husband of Plantin's second daughter Martina, and who inherited
the property after Plantin's death. M. Moretus, the present proprietor, is his
lineal descendant. The business is still carried on, but in a very sluggish manner.
They print little else except Missals and Breviaries, and the types which thej' employ
are cast in Plantin's matrices. live of Plantin's massy presses remain in the press
room, in good repair : the others were destroyed by the French, when they took
possession of the town. At a later period, the French Authorities put the remaining
presses under seal : the cause of this proceeding was not explamed, but the seals
had not been removed in 1815, notwithstanding the change of government. The
street front, and the opposite side of the quadrangle, are used for domestic purposes.
On the ground floor of the latter, are the apartments which were occupied by
Justus Lipsius during the time that he was treated as the inmate of the munificent
typographer. The bust of Lipsius has been placed on the outside of his study ;
which is the first room on entering the quadrangle. It is fitted up in the old
Flemish style, and paved with black and red tiles. It also contains the portraits
of Plantin and his wife, and of some other members of his family.

SIXTH DAY.

153

elegance, and Aldus and Froben equal zeal and learning ;
but take his smaller and his larger works together, his pocket
Latin Bible and his Polyglot Bible, and you will hardly

From the study you pass into a second chamber, in which the Critic slept. The
walls are covered with hangings of black leather stamped with gilded arabesques.
The beams and rafters of the ceiling appear to be of chestnut wood, and are
carved and let into each other with the nicety of cabinet work. Adjoining to tliis
room, is Plantin's Count ing-House : a small sequestered cabinet, lighted only by a
single mullioned window, which is nearly covered by the foliage of the vines which
run over the front of this part of the building [see plate, to the right.] Plantin's
Writing- Desk is exactly such a one as we see placed before a scribe, or an author in
au old wood-cut in the first page of a romance ' en lettres gothiques : ' one of those
elaborate pieces of carpentry with twisted legs and little arches, and innumerable
cross bars and fastenings. All his relics have been preserved with uncommon
care. His Brass-Lamp stills stands on the upper ledge of the desk : and on a shelf
behind the high-backed smooth-worn arm chair, there are piled his Ledgers and
those of his successors. The dates are written on the margins, and the series
begins with the year 1 586. Two large carved presses at the other end of the room
contain the matrices of his types and the copper plates employed in the works
which he printed. The last room which was shewn is used as a store-room for
the types and blocks, some of which were produced to me. The side of the
quadrangle which remains to be described consists of the Librai-y and Warehouse
The basement is composed of a handsome Doric arcade. The library is on the
first floor, and I was informed that no portion of Plantin's celebrated collection
has ever been alienated or removed.'

This very office Avas visited by De Thou, when Plantin's circumstances were
on the decline; yet seventeen presses were then at work there! . . And in
this very office, when Guicciardini wrote his account of it, in the prosperous
days of its founder, upwards of 100 golden crowns per day were
spent in the payment of correctors and pressmen . . . and from this very office
such a succession of beautiful, curious, useful, and magnificent works issued,
as filled Europe with astonishment, and raised the name of Plantin to the
topmost pitch of glory. ' I am well aware Csays Scribanius) that many illustrious
men have flourished as printers ; I have known the Alduses, from Italy — the
Frobens, from Germany — and the Stephens, from France : but these are all
eclipsed in the single name of Plantin ! If they were the Stars of their own
hemispheres, you, Plantin, are the Sun — not of Antwerp, nor of Belgium only —
but of the world.' One William Panlhi, indeed, (see Baillet, vol. i. pt. i. p. 72)
compares the office of Plantin ' to the belly of the Trojan horse — adding, that
many more heroes (in the shape of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin books) issued from
it, than there came Grecian warriors from the horse of Troy.' A droll comparison,
and possibly unique !

154

SIXTH DAY.

find any thing to approach, certainly nothing to excel, them.
And then, too, when one thinks of this latter upon vellum
. . . Transporting thought !

But of all these heroes, in the shape of a book,, none was ever gifted with
so colossal a stature, none ever achieved such stupendous deeds, and none
ever received such unqualified eulogy, as the work ycleped Biblia Sacka
Poi.YGLOTTA,. &c. Antwerpue, ISei-lSTa— ui 6 or 8 folio volumes: called, over
and over again, ' the eighth miracle of the word.' Those who have not Mallinkrot
(p. 115, &c.) or Wolfius (Bibl. Hebr. vol. ii. p. 341, &c,) or Clement (Bibl.
Curieuse, &c. vol. iv. p. 176) or Mascli (Bibl. Sacra, vol. i. p. 340-348) at hand,
may possibly content themselves with the pithy notice of this splendid typogra-
phical achievement to be found in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 8, &c. A
little volume might be written as a sort of memoir of this work — which was carried
on, it is affirmed, at the expense of Philip II. ; was chiefly edited by Arias Mon-
tanus, and exclusively printed by Plantin. Clement defends the imputation cast
upon Philip, as having onlt/ lent Plantin the money ; and as having persecuted our
printer ' even unto death' b}' constant dunning. This may possibly turn out to
be ' scandalum magnatum especially as Lipsius — in his first violent emotions
of g.rief and wretchedness, upon the loss of Plantin — while writing to his son-in-
law Raphelengius — makes no mention whatever of it. Lipsii Opera, 1675, vol. ii.
p. 192. But of the Polyglot—' soft you; a word or two, before you go ;' gentle
reader. There standeth, upon the shelves of the Althorp Library, De Thou's own
copy upon large paper — in 8 volumes; of which, the 3 latter however, unac-
countably enough, are upon small paper — in the same binding. Wherefore was
this?. . ' De Thou's own copy upon large paper?! !' Who would not make a
pilgrimage to such a shrine ? Yet furtlier, and better still : Mr. Wurtz brought
over here, in May, 1816, a copy upon vellum — in ten volumes — wanting the
3 latter volumes (in the Royal Library at Paris) which contain the philological
and lexicographical appendix. This copy was in its original calf binding, ' with
gilt on the leaves' — white, clean, ample : not to be surpassed — and never did I
enjoy a French cup of colFee so highly, and so exquisitely, as when partaking of
it, in the apartments of Mr. Wurtz, with this said vellum copy, divided into equal^
portions on my right hand and on my left! Language can scarcely do justice to
its extraordinary beauty and perfection of condition. Again note ; vellum-loving
reader — one thousand guineas were asked for it : but in times like these, ' one
thousand guineas ' is ' a good round sum ! '

I approach my peroration. Christopher Plantin died in 1589, in his 75th
year. His epitaph may be seen in Foppens, Maittaire, and others : it is terse,
vigorous, and just — concluding with these lines :

Christophorus situs hie Plantinus, Begis Iberi

Typographus : sed Rex Typographum ipsefuit.

Lipsius heard from him a little before his death ; and between hope and fear, and

SIXTH DAY.

155

Lorenzo. Does it exist ?

JLysandeb. Ay, and in a three-fold shape : that is, three
copies of it are certainly known to exist — and one of them
was lately within nine furlongs of our own Royal Library.

affection and anxiety, ' kissed his tremulous liand-writing.' Lipsias's letter to
Raphelengius, after Plantin's decease, is full of tenderness and genuine feeling.*
Indeed few men were so entirely devoted to him as Lipsius ; and few, certainly,
ever enjoyed so many friendships, or received such testimonies of commendation,
as Plantin. Such was the love of his person, and the zeal for his memory, dis-
played by one of his correctors, of tlie name of Cornelius Kilianus, that this
latter died in 1607— after having ' unceasingly and inflexibly devoted the last
50 years of his life in the duties of his station at the Plantin Press.' Yet this
Kilianus was ' vir candidus et in versibus facetus : ' see a specimen of his poetry
in Wolfii Monument. Typog. vol. ii. p. 1203. As to general panegyric, bestowed
by Lipsius, Bullart, Antonio, Mirseus, and others — respecting the beauty and
accuracy of Plantin's printing-— we may consult the notes of Maittaire, or the
brief pages of Baillet. Suffice it here only to remark, that Scaliger is reported to
have observed — ' you may trust Plantin : he is scrupulously accurate : but Henry

* The two letters, above alluded to, may as well be quietly introduced here,
as a sub-note :

Christ. Planting.
' Mi Amice, nulla umquam epistola tua aut gratior mihi aut gravior fuit hac
postrema. Languid^ manu scriptionem tuam nimis exosculatus sura, & servabo
pignus fidissimi inter nos amoris, at dolui in tu^ afflictissima [illi postrema I]
valetudine, quam tanien mens mihi dictat & prassagit jam esse meliorem. O Deus,
& tu, facite me compotem hujus voti ! Aliud nihil scribo, nisi hoc, quidquid a me
factum voles,, etiam cum me prafcedes & in vili hac terra non eris, impera : non
vivum magis amavi, quam postea vere vivum amabo. Salve, salve, salve.

Francisco Raphelengio.

' Certe, mi Raphelengi, tristi nuncio percussi sumus, tristi : nec cuiquam
vestrum qui sanguine juncti estis, aut in amando cessi, aut nunc in dolendo.
Amisisti tu avum optimum, alii patrem, ego amicum, sanctum nomen & rarum
hodie in terris. Heu mi Plautine, quis mihi post te alter ? nemo : non magis
quam ante te talis quisquam fuit. Beatum quidem te, qui extra praesens &
imminens omne discrinien, extra molestias, quae senile etiam caput tuum circum-
stabant : at nos volvimur & revolvimur in medio sestu. Tu mi fili multum amisisti,
in omni fortune tua consilium, solatium, opes. Amabat te, hoc scio. Sed feramus,
& illius maxime exemplo (in quo enim haec virtus clarior?) prompti volentesque
sequamur magnum ilium Deum. Scripsissem ad Moretum & heredes, sed ita me
salus amet, ut ego minirae aptus sum ad solandura,' &c. Lipsii Opera, vol. ii.
p. 192, edit. 1675, 8vo.

In one of the \ olumes of Lipsius's works will be found an account of the death
of Plantin, with a sketch of his character subjoined : but the foregoing brief and
pithy demonstrations, as it were, of immediate and irresistible sorrow, are fax
more touching than elaborate and highly wrought descriptions !

VOL. II.

156

SIXTH DAY.

LisARDo. Tantalising idea ! But was it a perfect copy ?

Lysander. Thou dost almost ' stick a dagger ' in me, by
such a question. The Sacred Text was entire, in ten
volumes ; the three remaining volumes were wanting.

Lorenzo. But of Plantin . . . proceed.

Lysander. He was made ' Royal Printer' to Philip
the Second of Spain; but that bigotted and cold-blooded

Stephen (the younger) is in the habit of altering and correcting what does not
exactly suit his own conceit.' This may probably be the gist of the note (g) in
Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 545. Let me here however make a brief remark or two.
Plantin execelled in every species of printing. His smallest letter (technically
called Brevier) is yet more neatly executed than that of the Elzevirs — as my
friend Mr. A. I. Valpy must be persuaded, on examining his own copy of
he New Testament, in Latin, with a list of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin
Names, &c. interspersed in the Bible at the end, put forth by Plantin in 1564,
12mo. His Italic type has a flow and elegance beyond even that of the Alduses ;
and his larger Exjman letter is at once rich, legible, and of the nicest dimensions.
No man ever better understood the management of a title-page ; as his Baptista
Porta, de Miraculis Rerum, 1560, 8vo. abundantly proves — not to mention a
half-score other similar instances. He sometimes, in imitation of Granjon at
Lyons, and Daufrie and Burton at Paris, printed in a curious writing-hand type ;
but this very rarely. See the luminous note (d) in Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 549.
Baillet says that a ' Catalogue of the Books printed in Plantin's Office,' was
published at Antwerp in 1605, 8vo. Such a catalogue would be a vast comforter
to the author of these Plantiniana !

Plantin, like Paul Manutius, (of whom, in due place and time) seems to have
had a delicate and sickly frame of body. Thus Lipsius, in one of his letters,
expresses his fears — when Plantin had set sail in a strong, although favourable,
gale of wind^ — ' lest his bodily weakness should be injured by tlie roughness of
the sea : ' ' my only consolation (adds he) is in the strength of your mind — a
strength, indeed, infinitely beyond that of your body, and always judiciously exer-
cised upon needful occasions.' This great printer left behind him but little wealtli,
if wealth be estimated by pounds, shillings, and pence : but as regards his Library
(noticed in Le Long's Traict^ des Bibliotheques, p. 353, and on authority of
Sanderus) and his reputation, the legacy which was bequeathed to his sons-in-
law, and more particularly to Moretus, was precious beyond all Cockerian com-
putation ! The physiognomy of Plantin was truly noble ; if the graver of Goltzius,
as shewn in the opposite plate, may be trusted ; and yet Bullart,* equally

* Bullart 's portrait is given hi vol. ii. p. 257 of his Academie des Sciences. It
was copied by Foppens in his Bibliotheca Belgica ; and is pronounced by a friend,
who has seen the original painting, to be the more faithful resemblance.

SIXTH DAY.

157

monarch scarcely ever facilitated his operations. Plantin
wanted money to complete his Polyglot, and the monarch
is reported to have graciously lent it to him — expecting to
be graciously repaid ! Vile system of patronage towards an

disposed to give a Titianic air to liis countenance, has thought fit to publish a
I'esemblance, of which the ensuing is a faithful copy, on a diminished scale.

The Dmces of Plantin were numerous, and were used by his sons-in-law after his
decease ; especially by Adrian Perrier : of whom see somewhat in La Caille, p. 176.
Tliey are sometimes even more tastefully managed than what we observe in the
exhibitions of them by Lysander : but the Vine is indeed a curiosity ! — and taken
from a work published by Andreas Dominicus Floccus ' De Potestatibus Roma-
norum,' 1561, 8vo. where it occurs at the end, having the compass at the
beginning. Mr. Heber has a pretty copy of this uncommon book, which I suffered
to go into his hands for some five shillings — but what chance has Lycaon against
Achilles ? Note further ; that Thomas Sourbon used the Plantin-Compass at
Lyons, 1614, in a very elaborate border, with the motto « METRON ARISTON:'
and Laurent Sonriius at Paris, in 1619, introduced the same device, with a ship
in the stride of the compass — both upon copper and in wood. The motto of
Plantui, ' Labore et Constantia,' is the surest road to the very pinnacle of
the Temple of JJp,me : whether used by Great Statesmen, Great Generals, Great
Scholars, Great Divines, Great Architects, or Great Mechanics !

158

SIXTH DAY.

honourable and able character — who was conducting towards
its close a work, which might, in every sense, be termed
NATIONAL ! Notwithstanding all his celebrity, talent, and
multiplicity of business, Plantin died poor, and, I fear,
broken-hearted !

Almansa. Alas ! Alas ! but his family ... his friends . . .
his Library . . .

Lysander. His family consisted of three daughters, his
son dying in his 1 2th year. Of the daughters, Margaret, the
eldest, married Raphelengius ; * the second, Martina, was
united to MorEtus ;t and the third, Magdalen, married first
Gilles Begs, and afterwards Adrian Perrier. The library

* married Raphelengius.^ There is a pleasing account of Fiiancisus Raphe-
lengius in Peignol's Diet. Rais. de Bibliologie, vol. ii. p. 155. This distinguished
scholar and printer was born of parents in low condition, and destined for trade.
An invincible love of study directed his attention towards books ; and during the
civil wars of France he came lo England, and taught the learned languages some
time at Cambridge. Going over to Antwerp, to purchase rare books there for
the University, he fell, first, in love with the splendid apparatus of Plantiu's
printing office, and, secondly, with the not less attractive charms of Mademoiselle
Margaret Plantin — ' Plantin, (says the gallant Peignot) charme de sa candeur,
de sa probite et de son Erudition, se I'attacha en lui donnant en mariage sa fille
ainee.' He had by her three sons and a daughter, and died in 1597, in his 58th
year. His learning lay chiefly in the Hebrew and Oriental languages ; and that
part of the Polyglot (the latter volumes) which embraces Hebraic lexicography,
&c. was executed more particularly under the eye of Raphelengius . . . whose
modest^-, be it known, was equal to his erudition. This able man was made printer
to the University of Leyden, and conducted the press of his father-in-law, who
had established an office there. Thus, in the frontispiece of Whitjwy's Emblems
(see vol. i. p. 275) we read ' Imprinted at Leyden, In the House of Christopher
Plantyn, by Francis Raphelengius.' This imprint calls to recollection the very
ample and delectable copy of this coveted book in the choice library of another
friend — Mr. Freeling. It is ' Exemplar vere Brobdiguagianura.'

t united to Moretus.'] His christian name was John. He had two sons,
Balthazar and John, who succeeded to his business, as printer, in 1610, on the
death of their father. Moretus received the library of Plantin as his father-in-law's
legacy ; and this library, (see p. 153, ante), yet continues in its pristine state. Paul
Pater (upon what authority, does not exactly appear) tells us that Moretus kept
forty-eight presses in constant motion. The passage is curious : ' Hujus typogra-

SIXTH DAY.

159

of Plantin yet remains untouched. His friends were many
and illustrious. Wherever we see his portrait or device, let
us reverence each with becoming feelings of respect. In
regard to his Devices, where is the civilised quarter of the
globe that does not contain a volume in which we see the
Hand and Compass of Plantin ? You have here two pleas-
ing varieties of it.

The Devices of Christopher Plantin.

phei dignitas et praestantia vel inde aestimanda, quod octo et quadraginla prelis
operarum ministerio quotidie ferveret ; uude facile colligere, quanto impendio \ixc

160

SIXTH DAY.

I am not sure whether the following be exactly attributable
to Plantin. It is however attached to a book which bears
his name and usual mark in the title-page. If it be, its
rarity is extreme.

The Device of the Same.

ofFicina coiistiterit, quamque numerosas sibi typothetarum manus depoposcerit,
quarum ope ad diicenta volumina minora, 200. Risz Papier, singulis diebus typis
describi, et regiae hinc opes in possessores redundare potuerint.' ' De Germanim
Miraculo, ^c. Dissertatio, Lipsice, 1710, 4to. p. 79.

A little further onward (p. 86) the same amusing author gives us an estimate
of ' The weekly gains which may be derived from one press ;' ' Si terapora sunt
propitia, artis sociorum unus cum adjutore tyrone, dierura spatio trium, integrum
volumen majus, einen Ballen, sive decern volumina minora, zehen Riesze, preli
pressura labore solito absolvet, atque ita sex diebus bina maiora, seu viginti
mmora volumina finiet, in millia plura si multiplicandus liber, proque hac sua
diligentia nummos unciales decern hebdomadibus singulis capiet ; subtracta
dimidia parte in alimenta, mercedem, aliosque domesticos usus, restabunt Impe-
riales quinque, pro nova sorte massaque reponendi.' Let me conclude these
Plantiniana by asking whether any ' History of the Antwerp Press exists?
The Plantin family alone are deserving of 200 quarto pages.

SIXTH DAY.

161

You may remember the frequent appearance of Plantings
device upon copper. Tell me how you like the following
specimen of it ? Yet I should premise that there are varieties
of it, produced by the same mechanical process, which may
possibly be thought to exhibit more elegance of composition.
We must not however find fault with Lorenzo's bill of fare ;
but partake of the dishes as they present themselves to our
palate.

Hark . . . the evening Arsenal-bell tolls, and we promised
to reach Ghent before the next morning sun ! The gates
are about to shut. Let us away. Illustrious Plantin . . .
receive our last farewell, and never-ceasing testimonies of
respect and veneration !

Almansa. Why do you whirl us so rapidly to Ghent ?

Lysander. Merely to take a hasty peep at the pretty

162

SIXTH DAY.

device of Jodocus Lambert.* Look how cleverly this
rural lad manages his sheaf and sickle !

Away now for Switzerland ! . . for really there would be
no limits to the discussion, and the day ought to hsi^Q forty-
eight instead of twenty four hours, if we lingered in every
town which might afford amusing anecdotes connected with
its earliest typographical exhibitions —

Lorenzo. Remember Venice . . The land of the Alduses,
the GiuNTi, and Gioliti !

* device of Jodocus Lambert.'] The device above given is taken from a very
curious aiid uncommonly rare little quarto ti-act (in the possession of Mr. Lang)
of which the following is the title.

Lon veoit plusieurs gens aller et courir
A Gant ce capitaine Busset veoir mourir
1543.

This is above a well-executed, but frightfully repulsive, wood-cut of the dismem-
bering of the said ' Capitaine Busset ' who is being executed upon a scaffold.
Thefi gures in the foreground, of which only the half-lengths are seen, are admi-
rably drawn and engraved. At the end we read the following imprint ' Imprim.6
a Gand, par Josse Ldbert, Tailleur de lettres, demourant la maison de la ville, ou
on treuue ces liuretz a vendre. Van de grace m.d.xliii.

SIXTH DAY.

163

LiSARDO. But where is the Strasbourg Lion — with the
roaring of which you just now threatened to astonish our
weak nerves ?

Lysandek. Right, Lisardo. This reminds me of two
remaining cities, in which, previous to our expedition into
Switzerland, it may be as well to tarry for two minutes
only. I mean, Strasbourg and Heidelberg. First, bear
in recollection, that John Reinhardt, commonly called
Geuninger, was a most active and distinguished printer
at the former place, in the annals of the xvth century.
He must have employed, I think, a host of artists, and
must have had prodigious enthusiasm in his profession.
Yet is the style of art, observable in his multifarious pro-
ductions, a little grotesque and extravagant. Call to mind
his device, as exhibited in a late publication,* and receive,
with becoming sentiments of respect, the very curious and
striking embellishment used by Wolfgang CEPHALiEus : a
printer, to whom we are indebted for many valuable Greek
books. -f-

* device of Gruninger, as exhibited in a late publication.'] I presume Lysander
to allude to the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. ii. p. 94, where the fac-shnile of it is taken
from the Horace of 1498. Those who possess this edition of Horace, the Terence
of 1496 (fully described in the same work, vol. ii. p. 426) the Boethius of 1501,
and the Virgil of 1503— each executed by Giiminger, or Gruninger (the name is
spelt either way) in the same style of embellishment — may be said to possess the
more rare and curious specimens of the press of that active and spirited printer.
The instructive pages of Prosper Marchand (Diet, Hist. <^c. vol. i. p. 288) afford
ample details of the multifarious operations of the same press ; concerning which
I have a strong suspicion, in a very remote corner of the pericranium, that a
most curious and amusing brochure might be put forth. Maittaire has, very
naughtily, passed him ' sub silentio' in his valuable typographical annals.

t Cephalmcs ... to whom we are indebted for many valuable Greek boohs.] The
above device is taken from the Greek Septuagint published by Cephalseus in
3 vol. in 1526 : a work of extreme delicacy of typographical execution, and of

1G4 SIXTH DAY.

The Device of Wolfgang Cephalj;us.

What have we here ? The device of John Albrecht ;
of whom I know little or nothing, except that he printed in

which, tall and clean copies (such as the one in Lord Spencer's collection)
should be hunted after and cherished by every lover of early Greek printing.
Be it remembered also, that I. W. Reimmanus, in his Accessiones Ulieriores to his
Father's Catalogue of Theological Works, at p. 145, calls this same Wolfgang
Chephal^eus ' an industrious and pious man and well versed in the Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew languages.' He was also a relation of the famous Fabricius
Capito, ' at whose request he set about the New Testament in Greek, of the date
of 1524 ; and to which the above edition of the Septuagint must be considered
as a necessary companion.' A little gossiping about both these publications of
the sacred text may be found in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 37, p. 60.

SIXTH DAY. 165

the early part of the sixteenth century in the city where we
are now tarrying.

The Device of John Albrecht.

Now then for the Roaring Lion of Mylius !* Did you
ever see a more noble felloAv? He seems to be the very

Panzer makes the earliest printed book of Cephalaeus of the date of 1514 ; vol. xi.
p. 283 — but in vol. vi. p. 64-69, I see no work where that printer's name is
introduced in the colophon.

* the roaring Lion of Mylius.] It is a little hard upon Crato Mylius, that,
had his lion roared ' an 'twere any nightingale,' he should not have found a
memorialist either in Maittaire or Panzer. Both have passed him over : at
least, his name does not occur in the indexes of these renowned bibliographers :

166

SIXTH DAY.

Samson of his species, and makes nothing of the ponderous
pillar upon his left shoulder — while his right paw rests upon
a shield which I presume to be a representation of the city-
arms of Strasbourg. The motto subjoined to it — that ' his
Enemies were better acquainted with his front than his
back' — delights me infinitely, as being worthy of such an
admirable representation of courage.

■and wliy am I to wade through as many conflicting elements as opposed Satan,
in his flight from ' Chaos and old Night' to the confines of this world, in search
of perhaps a mere transient notice or indirect eulogy of this lion-hearted printer ?
No : be it only understood, therefore, that the volume, from which the above
device is taken, ' hath to name,' Chrouicon Abbatis Vrspergensis, ^c. with Parali-
pemena Rerum Memmrabilium, <^c. Argentorati Apud Cratonem Mylium, 1537,
folio— and that a copy of this said chronicle enriches the well selected library of
York Cathedral. The latter part of it contains spirited heads (meant for portraits)
in outline, with black grounds ; and the whole volume hath a joyous and splendid
cast of character. Dids't ever see, chronicle-searching reader, an eai'lier edition
of this ' Chronicon Abbatis Vrspergensis' (' situate and being midway between
Ulm and Augsbourg') of the date of 1515, folio, executed by John Miller, at
Augsbourg, with the arms of the said abbey (as I conceive) beneath ?

The frontispiece of this earlier edition is in a spirited style of art : having a
broad and Basil-like ornamented border, with a black back-ground, in the centre
of which stand JViwus and the Emperor Frederic II. in earnest discourse, as if they
had been long and well acquainted with each other. The back of the title-page,
however, gives us the melancholj' intelligence that this edition is taken ' from the
only known ms. copy, which is sadly corrupted (' vnicum enim et id quidem
admodum mendosum extabat exemplar'). Note further: this earlier edition does
not contain the Paralipomena of that of 1537 ; and for the satisfaction of nervous
readers, the smaller lion of Mylius (who roars only ' like a sucking pig') is in the
frontispiece ; while the above magnificent creature takes his station at the end.
The motto, alluded to by Lj'sander, is as follows :

Hostibus haud tergo, sed forti pectore, notus.
A motto, which many a ' British Lion ' may with admirable truth assume to
himself . . . and so farewell to thee, thou King of Beasts, whether disporting
thyself at Strasbourg or at London !

16'8

SIXTH DAY.

What an opposition does the ensuing diminutive repre-
sentation of ' TrutW — used by Commelin at Heidelberg* —
exhibit ? This figure was partly borrowed by the Cambridge
printers in the seventeenth century, for that of their Alma
Mater ; and indeed is, of itself, often of larger dimensions.

* Commelin at Heidelberg.'] His Christian name was Jerome. A very
pleasing small pearl-neck-lace of anecdotes, as testimonies of approbation, might
be strung to hang round the neck of the marble bust of Commelin . , . should such
bust be in existence. We have first, and principall3s the united suffrages of the
very Castor and Pollux of literary constellations, Scaliger and Casaubon, in
commendation of the said Jerome Commelin. Accordmg to Bailiet, Casaubon says
in one of his epistles (but Casaubon's epistles are not just now at hand) that ' he
made a point of buying every book which came from Commelin's press, without
any distinction : so great was his opinion of his talents.' Jvgemens des Savans,
vol. i. pt. ii. p. 61. Scaliger says, that ' whatever he did was excellent, and that
lie was learned both in the Greek and Latin languages, but not in the Hebrew :'
Poster. Scaligerana, p. 54. Mallinkrot notices his talents' ; calling him ' eruditis-
simus Typographus,' and mentioning his celebrated editions of the works of St.
Athanasius and Chrysostom. De Art. Typog. 1640, 4to. p. 93. Paul Pater (not
• Father Paul') has a neatly-turned eulogy of him — ' vera prffistans (says he) et
mitioribus in litteris versatissimus typographus. Iniuria temporis patrio solo
excessit, et Heidelbergaj Larem tenuit, inque officina sua tot cgregios scriptores
procudit, ut non facile palmam alicui concesserit.' De Germ. Mirac. Opt. Max.
Typ. Lit. 1710, 4to. p. 78.

Commelin was a Frenchman by birth ; and Bailiet says that he settled himself
at Heidelberg • on account of being near the Palatinate Library :' yet Pater may
be also right, Scaliger, who knew and loved him suicerely, thus mentions his death
—in one of liis letters to Casaubon of the date of April 16th, 1598. ' Commelin,
to my inexpressible sorrow, and to the great loss of Grecian literature, is no more.
His wife, having just returned from Frankfort, where she had caught an epidemic
fever, commmiicated the disease to him; and both of them, together with some

SIXTH DAY.

169

But I see you begin to be impatient for your Switzerland
trip . . . and hie for the capital of that country ! We are now
therefore at Basil : the native city of Amerbach and of
Froben.* Illustrious men ! . .

LiSARDO. Amerbach is a stranger to me.

Lysander. Possibly so ; but he is not the less deserving
of notice and commendation on that account. He was a
corrector of the press of Koburger, and the master of
Froben; and Maittaire, to the best of my knowledge, is

of their numerous family, perished nearly at the same time.' Scalig. Epistole,
1627, 8vo. p. 166. Commelin's son, Peter, used his father's device, on a large
scale, in an elaborate border, subscribing himself ' Petrus Sanctandreanus :' that
is, living at the sign of' St. Andrew. Hollar executed a pretty small plate, from
the idea of Commelin's device, of the naked figure of truth — a sun in her right
hand, a cup in her left, with milk streaming from each breast, for Roger Daniel,
printer to the University of Cambridge : having, for motto, ' Hinc Lucem et
Pocula Sacra.' This lady, however, is meant for Alma Mater.

* Amerbach and Froben.] Of Johannes Amerbachius, who toiled and
laboured a full thirty years in his typographical calling, I can only here observe
(for Froben demands my more serious attention) that Maittaire has done him
every possible degree of justice in five goodly quarto pages, in his Annal. Typog,
vol. i. p. 37-42 : and to these pages, or to the summary of them, in his Index,
vol. i. p. 36, let the pains-taking antiquary resort for farther information. Yet
another word, before we part. Amerbach, oddly enough, brings painful recol-
lections to my mind : for see, tender-hearted reader, what a difficult task I once
sustained in collating his admirably printed edition of some of the Works of
Petrarch in 1496 — as noticed in the Bibl, Spenceriana, vol. iii. p. 454 6. O rare
loannes de Amerbach — what a selector of signatures wert thou ! Leif us h')wever
cherish and respect his memory : for he corrected many a ponderous tome for
the press of Koburger, and associated to himself, in turn, our well beloved lohn
Froben, for his own corrector. He has also received the warm eulogies of
his master Lapidanus, and of Erasmus: the latter of whom, in his Epistles,
calls him ' the best of men ;' and speaks highly in his dedication to Pope Leo X.
of his children — who assisted Froben in his office. Amerbach was certainly ' blest
in his children ' — ' optimi juvenes pulcherrimam provinciam, ab optimo parente
mandatam, graviter obeunt'— - are the words of Erasmus. Jungendres is not a,
little eloquent in commendation of the father, Amerbach : Disq. in Not. Charact.
Lihror. &c. p. 1740, 4to. p. 21 : and John Fabricius, in his Bibl. Fabric, 1722,
4to, pt. V. p. 40, &c. commends a descendant (I suppose) of this ancient and
worthy pruiter, in his account of Henry Ammersbach.

170

SIXTH DAY

both copious and earnest in commendation of him. But for
Froben . . . prepare your most curiously-wrought chaplets
of ever-green : * bring hither also your

.... bells and flowerets of a thousand hues

* for Froben, prepare your most curiously-wrought chaplets of ever-green.'] In
the Frobeniana which ' hereafter follow,' I have endeavoured to supply the
places of ' chaplets,' and ' bells,' and ' flowerets ' by a few sober facts which may
be somewhat palateable even to those who have not made typographical
researches a particular branch of their studies. First, then, of this truly eminent
printer John Froben — eminent, not so much for the splendour, magnitude, and
importance of his publications, as for the integrity of his character, the purity of
his mind, and the real worth of the greater number of the works printed by
hira-.-be it known that he began his career, as the preceding note intimates, as a
corrector in the printing office of Amerbach. Maittaire does not speak with
confidence of the date of the first work printed on his own account, but supposes,
with some probability, that it was not later than 1491 : vol. i. p. 57. Panzer
assigns the date of 1490 as the first of Froben's productions ; vol. v. p. 541 : but
in vol. i. p. 169, no. 130, he questions, apparently with good reason, the accu-
racy of such a date in a Latin bible, in 8vo. which Peignot {Diet, de Bibliol.
vol. i. p. 273) makes to be of 1491, per Joannem Frobenium de Hamelburck.
Of the parents of Froben, nothing appears to be known with certainty ; and the
books printed by him in the xvth century are few and unimportant. They are
also iniiformly remarkable, I believe, for being executed in a Gothic type, rather
rudely than elegantly formed. In an edition of Gratian's Decretal, of the date
of 1493, 4to. (of which my friend Dr. Stock of Clifton possesses a copy— among
many similar curiosities, betraying a rightly-cultivated bibliomaniacal taste and
feeling) our Froben is thus designated — ' per Joannem froben de Hamelburg :
impressorie artis primariam asseclam : fidelemque operariiim.' The editor of this
impression was Sebastian Brandt ; who has taken care, in the colophon, to tell
us that Basil and Germany were the nurses of every thing that was exquisite iu
the art of printing — forgetting, peradventure, the productions of Rome and
Venice ! The poetical register, (in a roman type) following the colophon, hath
something iu it sufficiently quaint to merit its present msertion.

Ordo quaternorum et numerus
Ordine sub terno tenet alpha et beta libellum hunc :

Incipit a paruo : sequitur de hinc mains : inde
Quid duplum est, operis numeru si forte requiris :
Sexaginta et quinq; uides : omnesq; quaternos.
How soon Froben rejected the black letter, and adopted the roman, can only
be ascertained by a collection of the works which have issued from his press ;
and if ever a public or private library should be formed, or classed, according to

SIXTH DAY. 171

to strew upon the tomb where his ' dry bones' (to borrow
the language of Erasmus) repose. Forgive the whimsicahty
of the conceit, or notion, but I have always traced,^ in the

printers, I do vehemently trust and hope that the portrait or bust of Froben
may be found at the summit of some fifty square feet, crowded with his folios,
quartos, and octavos — but let me also * vehemently hope ' that, in lettering of
these precious tomes, the collector, or rather the binder, do not, from an excess
of attachment to the name of Froben, mistake the printer for the author of a
work ! For know, good-humoured reader, that some seven years ago, much was
I struck with ' the merry conceit ' of one Master * * * * a bookbinder to the
University Library of Cambridge — who, upon the back of one of Erasmus's
editions of the New Testament, printed by Froben, and containing an address
from that printer to the reader, chose to make the following inscription in letters
of fair gold :

FROBENIUS
LECTORI.

This arose, no doubt, from too enthusiastic an attachment to the early annals of
the Basil press !

It was not till the year 1514 that Froben made the acquaintance of Erasmus:
an acquaintance, which seems to have instantly ripened into friendship ; which
only enci-eased with years, and could be severed only by death. Nothing
could well exceed the genial and undisturbed flow of sentiment between these
eminent men.* One head, one heart, the same impulse, animated both. While
his first edition of the Greek Testament was going on, Erasmus, in one of his
letters dated London, Apl. 28th, 1515, thus remarks: ' Tliere is no where a
more accurate press than that of Froben ; nor, at the same time, one from which
more excellent publications are sent forth, especiall}^ as they relate to the Sacred
Text.' And to Pirkheimerus, two years after the death of Froben, the same
illustrious character observes, that ' a sincerer friend he never desired of heaven ;
his family continued to shew him the same affectionate attention after the
decease of their parent, and his own regard for the children remained undimi-
nished.' ' In short (adds Erasmus)! sliould have been proud of the city of Basil
for my native place.' His direct eulogy of Froben may be found in his E^nst. 922,
as given in Jortin's Life of Erasmus, vol. i. p. 393-5, 8vo. edit. Erasmus used
indeed to spend months together under Froben's roof; and in his interesting

* ' Binos hos viros coataneos et coavos, licet non populares, idem erga litteras
studium ita coiijunxit, utmutuo amore, et plusquam fraterno, hie ilium proscque-
retur.' Mdttaire's Annul. Typog. vol. i. p. 57, edit, 1733. And read the eulogies
of Erasmus upon the typograpliical merits of Froben, in vol. ii. p, 30, &c.

172

SIXTH DAY.

mysteries of my limited lore, a resemblance between old
Froben and his printing : between the countenance of the
man and the types used by him.

epistle to Botzhemus, of the date of 1524, in which he gives an account of his
publications up to that period, he talks of having spent ' ten months at a time'
with Froben — but that he paid the printer 150 golden florins for his enterlain-
nient — a payment, howevei', which Froben was compelled, against his will, to
Accept. See JoHin's Life of Erasmus, vol. iii. p. 105-133.

The grateful Froben shewed every sense of the high opinion entertained
of him by so illustrious a scholar and guest ; and it was not among the least
trifling of his gratifications to adorn the walls of his printing office with the
POBTRAiT, carved in wood, of the kind-hearted Erasmus. This very portrait,
as it existed in Froben's time, is at this moment suspended over the mantle-
piece of the repository of Mr. Payne ; a bibliopolist, of whom all ' praise were
useless and censure vain.' Take, graphic reader, a I'educed copy of this portrait
(the original being a circle 12 inches in diameter) from the pencil of Mr. Behnes;
and admit that it is an ornament by no means unfitly introduced in its present
place — for who can think of Froben, and not prepare at the same time to take
off his hat to his friend and patron Erasmus ?

SIXTH DAY.

173

Almansa. Whimsical indeed ! Pray explain this.

Lysander. Readily. Some people, you know, pretend
to judge of the disposition, by the hand writing, of an
individual. This however may be heretical. Yet as Froben
was known, admired, and caressed, by the learned of his

Beatus Rhenanus was the intimate friend both of Froben and Erasmus,
and wrote the life of the latter prefixed to the edition of his works put forth
by the sons of Froben in 1540, (see vol. i. p. 236.) This life Bates has reprinted
in his very curious and too much neglected work, entitled ' Vitce Selectonim
Aliquot Virorum qui DoctrinA, Dignitate, aut Pietate inclaruere,' 1681, 4to.
p. 201-9.

Let us dwell somewhat — only while our tea cools, or the shower forbids us ' to
walk abroad' — upon the purity of Froben's mental character. In the prefix to
Erasmus's edition of the Greek Testament of 151 6, the printer tells the reader that
' he is always resolved upon publishing the best authors, especially those who are
conducive to morality and piety : and he calls Christ to witness that the beneficial
results of such publications are as dear to him as all pecuniary compensation.' ' But
(adds he) however I have invariably done my utmost to render every work
which has issued from my press as accurate as possible, yet in none of them have
I more strenuously laboured to accomplish this desirable end than in the present.'
Indeed, his contempt of lucre was equally strong and uncommon ; his pro-
fession being at that time not very remarkable for liberality of dealing — for thus
writes Erasmus to Beroaldus, June 8, 1522 : ' Verum ut video, nihil jam pudet
typographos. Posteaquam experiuntur nihil avidius rapi, quam nugacissiraas
quasque nsnias, neglectis interim priscis ac probatis auctoribus, perfrict^, fronte
sequuntur illud e Satyra : Lucri bonus est odor ex re qualibet.' But hear the
good Froben himself— in the preface to his ^sop of 1517. ' I do all I can (says
he) towards accuracy and respectability of publication. I use good paper, and
pay my editors liberally. The public are the best judges how these latter have
executed their tasks : only thus much I must be permitted to observe — namely,
if the business of printing become a mere object of traffic, as some liave ah-eady
complained, the discovery of the art will be more fatal than beneficial to the
legitimate ends of learning.' Maittaire, in a very fit of bibliomania, tluis subjoins —
' We have sufficient evidence that the more ancient printers were by no means
tainted with this vice. The copies of then- productions which remain, and which
will for ever remain, bear testimony of the kind of paper, ink, type, and press-
work that they adopted : every thing of the kind being perfect — every thing, as
if fresh from the press, invites, delights, and absolutely dazzles the eyes of the
reader!' Annal. Typog. vol. i. p. 43, edit. 1719.

On the death of Froben in 1527 (in consequence of a paralytic affection — and
in the midst of an impression of the entire works of St. Austin — see Maittaire,

171

SIXTH DAY.

time, for his simplicity, integrity, and manliness of character,
so there seems to me, in the productions of his press, to be a
correspondent plainness and simphcity of expression. J enson

vol. ii. p. 33 ) a whole corps of critics, editors, and learned printers, wrote
epitaphs and threnodaicul strains which seemed to moisten every eye and melt
every heart — not insensible to the merits of the deceased. Erasmus, the fond,
the friendly, the enthusiastic Erasnuis, led the way, as chief mourner, upon this
sorrowful occasion. His epitaph, beginning

Arida lohannis tegit hie lapis ossa Frobeni,
has been reprinted a thousand times. Read it, among other places, beneath the
portrait of Froben (of which pi-esently) in Dr. Knight's Life of Erasmus, facing
p. 355— where it is engraved ' from the autograph of Erasmus.' Froben left
behind him two sons, Jerom and John, and a daughter of the name of Justina —
who ' plighted her troth,' as we shall presently see, in an Episcopalian union!
The typographical reputation of Froben (for it is now high time to think of a
summary of his professional character) consists in the correctness and respecta-
bility of his productions. In matters of ornament, including even liis devices,
he was, upon the whole, somewhat gothic: yet his types are handsome,
round, and legible, and his ink is rather unusually black. Luther had a high
opinion of Froben's types ; for in one of his letters to Spalatinus, he says
' Melchior Lother, furnished with the best forms of letters (or matrices) from
Froben's Office, comes prepared to establish a press for the sake of printing our
lucubrations.' Lackman's Annul. Tijpog. Select. Quisd. Cap. p. 6, note. It must
not, however, be concealed that Froben was rather unhappy in his choice of
Greek types ; and although, upon his death, Erasmus complained of the routine
of the office being altered for the worse, yet he advised Jerom, the eldest son,
to furnish himself with better forms of Greek types. Froben loved to disport
himself in broad margins, and his capital initials are sometimes classical as well as
curious— yet do we too often discover in them a vein of liumour approaching to
vulgarity ; and some of his border-ornaments are unaccountably gross and offen-
sive. How a mind like Froben's, resembling the white sheet upon which he
printed, could have foisted these ' border-ornaments' round the saceed text,
is, to me, utterly inexplicable. Our printer rarely indulged himself in impressions
UPON VELLUM : but when he did put his strength forth in this department of his
art, he could, if he pleased, be miraculously successful : witness, the second edi-
tion of his friend Erasmus's Gr. and Lat. Testament, 1519, folio, m 2 vols, upon
vellum, in the library of York Cathedral. These glorious volumes are about
13 inches and a half in height, by about 9 in width. They are the Book-Lions
of that liberally-furnished library !

A sufficient number of Froben's devices is given in the text. To these, add the
fac-smiile which appears in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 10*5 ; having for motto
•• be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,' &c. It has been shewn (Typog.

Typ O gT ■ 1 ]. ) 1 1 n ;-: I : I i 1 1 1 ' ■ 1 1 j i .-• .

SIXTH DAY.

175

probably was a smart dresser, a beau, and man of fashion —
as his types are neat, beauteous, and sparkhng. Fust and
ScHOiFFHER, I conceive, to have always worn good homely
drugget clothing; andMENTELiN, Fyner, Ketelaer, and
De Leempt, to have been down right slovens — because
their style of printing partakes of the same characteristic
effect. Now Fkoben was not a smart fellow, nor, on the
other hand, a sloven ; yet his clothing was, I think, made of
better stuff than ' homely-drugget.' In other words, there
appears, in the productions of Froben's press, a total absence
of affectation and sparkling conceit. Perhaps there is also
the same uniform absence of elegance and perfect symmetry :
yet * he who runs may read and I love his round, legible,
and black-looking types (not gothic, for he seldom or ever
used that character) in perfect unison with his unaffected
and honest physiognomy.

It remains only to add, that Froben was the bosom friend
of Erasmus, and of many illustrious contemporaries ; while
his printing office was the incessant vehicle of a number of
useful, learned, and pious works, which were at once an

Antiq. vol. ii. p. xl.) that ourWykyn de Worde might have borrowed the lower
of the devices at page 177, post. The taller devices of the Caduceus only, are
very poor and meagre. The Physiognomy of Froben is well known by a variety
of prints from the painting, of which the opposite plate may be considered a
most faithful copy. The original painting is probably yet at Basil; as Earl
Spencer's picture, upon close examination, seems to be a copy, but of an ancient
date, and exact execution. There is a mezzotint, by Blooteling, 1671, of the
same head ; and Dr. Knight's plate, in Ime engraving, is evidently a copy of this
mezzotint. The execution of it is exceedingly indifferent ; although, however
executed, the effect is strikingly characteristic. Upon a calm and close examina-
tion of Froben's features, as given in the plate accompanying these remarks, I
own there does appear to me to be some truth in the apparently whimsical notion
of Lysander— namely, that the countenance, disposition, and press-work of this
truly excellent printer, seem all of a piece. Candour, honesty, simplicity, and
utility, pervade the whole. And so rest in peace — Arida Iohannis ossa
Frobeni !

176 SIXTH DAY.

ornament and a blessing to the age. Now for his Devices.
Take however only a few of them; premising that the
varieties are almost endless.

The Devices of John Froben the Elder.

SIXTH DAT.

178

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of the Same.

What a contrast, my worthy friends, and, at the same time,
what a felicitous pun upon his own name, does the device of
Froben's son-in-law, Episcopius,* exhibit ? I own, if I were

* Froben's son-in-law, Episcopius.] Nicolas Bischoff, or Episcopius, or,
in English, Bishop, married, as we have just learnt, the dame Justina, only
daughter of the most excellent Froben : — ' Leaving BasU, and getting on ship-
board, (says the susceptible Erasmus) who should come across my mind but
Episcopius— and Ids newly-made bride Justina ! From infancy I have known
and admired the exquisite modesty of that young woman; who, the older she
grew, the more she exhibited that shamfasttiess and delicacy of manners which
rendered her a model or the rest of her sex.' Again, after the death of the
father-in-law, the same delightful writer thus addresses Episcopius, ' Most

SIXTH DAY

179

driven to choose promptly, which, of all the devices already
seen, were executed with most attention to taste of compo-
sition and brilliancy of effect, tlmt^ which you here behold,
as the device of the last mentioned printer, would strongly
prepossess me to give it a decided superiority.

The Device of Nicolas Episcopius.

heartily do I congratulate you both — that the sacred bonds of wedlock have
united an honourable, chaste, and upright woman, to a man of equal honour,
chastity, and integrity : and I hope that the day is not far distant, when I shaJI
have to congratulate you upon the gambols of a little Episcopius, in your hall, re-
sembling, not only yourselves, but my late excellent friend John Feoben. ... I
learn that you are about to inhabit his house, and to succeed to his business— to

180

SIXTH DAY.

LisAEDO. I wish printers would, now-a-days, endeavour
to rival this Episcopian embeUishment in the title-pages of
their productions . . . But what noble physiognomy is that to
which you have just turned, dear Lysander ?

Lysander. 'Tis the « noble physiognomy' of Oporinus,*

inhabit that house, in which I have passed so many delightful years of my exist-
ence, and in which your father-in-law was constantly overwhelming me with

kindnesses.' But I am wandering Episcopius and his wife lived together 35

years ; and their epitaph, written by their chUdren, will be found in La Caille,
p. 36 ; from hence copied by Maittaire, in vol. ii. p. 359. The concluding lines
are these :

Viximus unanimes Christo, nunc came soluti
Viximus aternum victuri, vivite nati.

Episcopius and his brothers-in-law, especially Jerom, lived, 1 should hope, both
amicably and successfully together ; and Conrad Gesner, in dedicating to them
' as eminent Printers' the last division of his Pandects— upon Theology, 1549—
took that opportunity of giving a list of the works printed in Froben's office up to
the same year. He concludes thus : ' Valete candidissimi uiri, et pulcherrimis libris
excudendis, orbem ditare, et Germaniam nostram ornare, pergite,' &c. It was
his (Conrad's) intention to have dedicated to them the Medical department of
his Pandects—' mutato proposito Theologiam sub nomine uestro emitto,' says he.
Baillet says a catalogue of the Frobenian and Episcopian books was published in
1561. Concerning Jerom Froben, pray read the very abundant notes, being
chiefly excerpts from the epistles of Erasmus, in Maittaire's Amial. Typog. vol. ii.
p. 349, &c. Episcopius and Jerom were executors of Erasmus's will. As to the
Device of Episcopius, as above given, it merits all the eulogy of Lysander. It is
a most ingenious and happy illustration, as it were, of the printer's name. Such
a crosier might have graced the hands of the venerable Matthew Parker !

* the noble physiognomy of Oponiaus.'] With all the aids which presented
themselves to Maittaire, and with even additional assistance, I sit down, under a
lurid sky, with the com-iction of not being able to do justice to the distinguished
character of Oporinus. Take therefore ' en bon gr6,' what is here intended for
a few minutes entertainment only, courteous reader ; and put down thy buckets,
if thou dost wish for more copious details, into those wells from which the ensuing
intelligence is drawn. Plunge them deeply in, and fear not to obtain therefrom
an abundant and crystalline draught. First, however, let me observe, that a
most curious and scarce little volume, apparently unknown to Maittaire, (and
which seems to have been the basis of the account of Melchior Adam, to which
latter, almost exclusively, Maittaire refers) entitled ' Oratio de Ortu, Vita, et
Obitu loannis Oporini Basiliensis, Typographorum Germania: Principis,' &c.
written by locisus SUesius, and recited by Henricus Hainzelius in the public

SIXTH DAY.

181

or Oircopivo; ; for, strictly speaking, the second syllable of
this autumnal, or fruit-hearing appellative, should be accen-
tuated. Yes, of all the Basil printers, reckon upon Oporinus

Academy at Strasburg, in 1569, 12mo.— the gift of my friend the Bev. H. J.
Todd — is at this moment before me: from which parent-stock of biography we
gather as follows. Oporinus, ' The Coryphaeus of Printers, ' (as this little memo-
rial styles him) was born at Basil on the 25th of January, in 1507. His father
was a distinguished painter of the name of Herbst— the same name, in substance,
as that which the son afterwards assumed to himself by a gra^cised appellative,
from Martial :

Si daret Autumnus mihi nomen 'OTTW^iVOf essem ;
Horrida si brumae sidera, Xsjjaepivoj.
Oporinus received the rudiments of his education at Strasbourg, under the
care of Gebuuilerus, a distinguished pedagogue, and who seems to have had a
particular affection for him. His parents were poor, and Oporinus remained
four years in the class of ' pauper scholars.' On returning to Basil, the then
celebrated seat of men of letters, he got acquainted with Erasmus, who approved
and encouraged his early studious habits. His uxorious propensities soon
betrayed themselves ; for at the age of twenty he ventured upon the hazardous
experiment of marrying the widow of Xylotectus, with whom he appears to have
lived upon the worst possible terms. Nothijig, in short, could well exceed the
bickerings which took place between them ; and the good Oporinus, after the
example of Socrates, would solace himself under the treatment of his Xantippey
with the cool forbearance which distinguished the Grecian philosopher. About
this time he made the acquaintance of the famous Oecolampadius, who advised
him to put himself under the tuition of Theophrastus Paracelses, and turn
physician. Theophrastus was a most extraordmary character, and promised to
make his pupil a doctor within a twelvemonth. He used also to go abroad with
Oporinus and the other pupils, for the sake of collecting plants ; ' and if they
came to any plant of which the name was not known, the cunning Theophrastus
said it was ' of no manner of use !" According to the fashionable doctrine of the
day, Theophrastus judged of diseases by the appearance of the urine — and
affirmed that such criterion was infallible — ' if a man would only abstain from
meat and drink for three days !' The gentle Oporinus, who had attached himself
enthusiastically to his profession, and who could repeat whole passages of Galen
by heart, made the experiment : (well might his biographer and encomiast say—
' Oporinus se ipsum triduo maceravit .') What followed ? He brought his master
the urinal, and gravely waited his reply, Theophrastus Paracelses laughed in
his face, called him a blockhead, and dashed the phial against the wall. But
further : this said medical master used to get drunk of an evening, and with a
drawn sword make thrusts at the wall, in the night-time — to the great terror of
the pupil who slept in an adjoining room. He would also bawl aloud to Oporinus

182 SIXTH DAY.

for learning, for sagacity, and for correspondent excellence
of character. I love to gaze upon such a large paper copy
of a flowing and well-trimmed beard !

The Portrait of Oporinus.

to get ready to receive his medical dicta— so that the latter, naturally enough,
thought his master was ' possessed with a devil.'

Oporinus lived about two years at Basil under this medical master, who had
an immense reputation as a physician. I have no room for the droll anecdote
about his curing a rich old Abb6, for 100 florins, with three pills ; (and was
refused payment because the process was so short!) but must go on with the
pupil. Oporinus lost his wife about the year 1530, and afterwards put liiraself
under Grynjeus, for the sake of studying the Greek language, and the more

SIXTH DAY.

1=83^

And then for the Devices of this said ' learned and saga-
cious Printer' and Editor. . . You observe what an equally
noble air they breathe ! The motto — that ' Valour and

popular branches of theology. About this period, accident procured him an
interview with Erasmus, at that time drawing near his end. Erasmus was on his
couch, and Oporinus giving him a hearty squeeze of the hand, he halloed lustily,
as he had then the gout in his fingers— to the great astonishment of the latter :
which Erasmus perceiving, he good-humouredly ordered wine to be brought, and
they pledged each other very lovingly. Oporinus used to have frequent chit-
chats with him, and their final separation only increased his respect for the talents
of the deceased. Oporinus then took a second wife, who turned out a most extra-
vagant jade ; and after various hesitations and deliberations, chose the occupation,
of a Printer as that upon which his future fame and fortune were to be built. In
conjunction with his relation, Robert Winter, he set up his press — selected
his device, (and a noble one, as the reader may see, it was I) and either personally,
or by means of others who worked for him, put forth a number of rare, curious,
and learned works. Solinus, Cicero, Laurentius Valla, and especially Demosthenes,
with almost every other Greek Classic, were the objects of his incessant and
successful labours : but I agree with Maittaire in withholding assent to the
neatness of his Greek characters ; and further coincide with him, that the Greek
Classics published in Germany, at this time, were distinguished rather for their
ponderosity than brilliancy of execution : ' yet learning and utility, Maittaire
justly adds, are preferable to elegance and beauty.' Gesner, who dedicated to
Oporinus the third book of his Pandects, gives a list of his publications. This may
be seen in Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 21.5. In imitation of Aldus, our printer affixed
the following inscription over the door of his office : ' Whoever you are, Oporinus
over and over again entreats you, that, if you have any business^ to transact with
him, you would dispatch it quickly : and depart as soon as it is dispatched,^

Unfortunately for Oporinus, nothing but adverse circumstances attended him.
It was his lot to encounter nothing but boisterous gales, and hidden quicksands,
when, in the language of his first biographer, ' he launched upon the wide ocean
of typography with full set sails.' But this brief memoir must be closed.
Oporinus lost his second wife, and afterwards a third, and then ventured upon a
fourth ; and this last brought him a son, to whom he looked forward to be. the
comfort of his declining years. But the father was carried off when this reserved
prop for old age had attained only his fifth month ; and such was the embarrassed
circumstances of the parent, that, teazed by the perpetual solicitudes of his wife,
he gave up his business, and sold all the materials of his printing ofiice, not Jong
before liis end. This step must have gone nigh to break his heart. Subjoined to
the ' funeral oration ' before mentioned, is a brief appendix, of 3 pages, giving a
conversation which passed between Coelius Curio and Oporinus, in their way
home together from the funeral of Kachel Bernardus, in June 1568. ' On
reaching his home (says Coelius) I wished to bid him good day, and depart j hut

184

SIXTH DAY.

Virtue surmount every thing ' — is also worthy of the gallant
spirit which adopted it. The larger of these is admirably well
drawn : there are yet many diminutive varieties, but gene-
rally they are of a gothic and meagre character.

The Device of Opouinus.

lie would by no means consent to the separation. ' Let me (says he) have some
more conversation with you, for heaven knows when we shall meet again. If it
be not troublesome to you, — as to me it would be most delightful — let us return
to the Church from which we came, and indulge in our former discourse upon
mortality. Let us see where you have buried your son Austin.' Having reached
the church, he viewed the monumental tablet, and read the inscription, namely^
' THE GATE OF LIFE — ' This is truly said,' observes he, ' since there is no
other passage to immortality but by death, which renders it the more desirable,
and with joyful minds the more welcome 1' Presently he explored every part
and recess, so that uo one could have examined his own house with more atten-

SIXTH DAY.

185

186

SIXTH DAY.

Next comes Andreas Cratandeb,* who ought mdeed
to have received earher attention. His figure of Fortune is

tion. — ' And oh ! (says he) how many bodies of the illustrious dead repose within
these precincts ! Five virgins— three your own, one of Beatus Brand, and the
fifth belonging to Isingrinius — four eminent men — Castalio, Isingrinius,
Froben, and your Austin — all nint sleep tranquilly here ! . . . I wish to make
the tent/i— and if this happen before your own decease, do, I pray you, cause me
to be buried in this narrow spot, a little beyond the rest, for is it not delightful
to lay by the side of the good and the pious ?!' ' God only knows (replied I) whose
turn it may first be — but if my own, my only wish is, when such happy day shall
have arrived, to be buried with my dearest children.' So saying, we departed :
he, with his usual kindness, accompanying me to my own door. I could not
but consider this conversation as a presage of his own death.'

The presentiment of Ccelius proved to be too true; for Oporinus died on the
sixth of the following month. His departure was marked with all that serenity,
composure, and piety, which had been the leading characteristics of his life. His
first biographer says (sign. C ni. rev.) that ' on the 14th day of his illness,
oppressed with sleep, he lay a long time motionless; at length, fetching a deep
sigh, he spake as follows : ' Happy is he who is so warned to depart !" Being
interrogated by those who stood round his bed, what this might mean, he
answered, that ' he saw, in his sleep, suspended to the bed, a sort of self -moving
clock, which struck the hours, and having completed the number, it fell instantly
and heavily upon himself:' adding, that ' the sounds conveyed the most delightful
harmony to his ears.' His funeral was attended by the whole of the Academy,
and by a great concourse of the most respectable citizens of Basle. His epitaphs
(for they were numerous, both in the Latin, and Greek languages) shew the very
high reputation in which he was held, for scholarship and moral worth. These
may be seen in the little tract first above mentioned, and still ' sub oculis :' — also
in the ' Icones, sive Imagines Virm-um Literis Ithistrium,' &c. of Nicolas Reusner,
edited by Bernard Jobinus, in 1590, 8vo. — from which the Portrait of
Oporinus, at page 182 ante, is taken — having what here follows on the
reverse : . JEtemitati.

lOANNES OPORINUS
Basil. Typographns,
Doctus, Operosus, Elegans: Libris innumeris partim a se scriptis, partim
publicatis : Virtutura Haerede ex IIII. coniuge, vnico relicto : Publicis Lacrimis :
Priuata pietate : Sexagenario Maior lieic conditur. Anno m.d.i.xviii. vi lulij.
Natus anno m.d.vii. Die xxv. lanuarij.

Frugifer Autumnus perijt, Diis notus et orbi :
Orthion elapsus nautis meditatur Arion.

Quantula sint hominum corpuscula, disce viatm- ;
Magnus Oporinus conditur hoc tumulo.

SIXTH DAY. 187

perpetually occurring in the Basil books of the early part of
the sixteenth century, and we have sometimes excellent spe-
cimens of his press.

The Device of Andreas Cratander.

Malttaire, vol. iii. p. 222-228 has reprinted the whole of these epitaphs. The
reader may also consult, for a few minutes, Lackiiian, p. 21-2 ; and Woljiii
Monument. Typog. vol. i. p. 65; vol. ii. p. 119B. Henry Stephen, who with all
his talents, and all his reputation, could not, ' like tiie Turk,' bear any ' brother
near his throne,' contrived to mingle a little gall in the libation which he poured
upon the tomb of Oporinus. Maittaire has spoken of this malign conduct, on the
part of H. Stephen, in a brief but justly vituperative manner : vol. iii. p. 223.
Melchior Adam properly notices the very opposite and highly liberal conduct
of Grempius, Sturmius, and Henricus Pelrus — in giving up all the claims which
they had upon the property of the deceased. Vit. Germ. Phil. p. 114. . . . and
thus, attentively viewing the physiognomy, and reading the foregoing epitaph, of
Oporinus, let us

' Breathe a prayer for his soul, and pass on !*
Yet stay, one other fleeting moment— curious and benevolent reader — for the
Devices of the worthy printer whose body we have so recently entombed. You

188

SIXTH DAY.

Let us next take in good part the singular devices of
Valentine Curio.* The second seems to be a portion

have, at pages 184-5, two varieties of the same. They are to be foiuid on a still
smaller scale; but tlie smaller they become, the more barbarously they are
designed and executed. Oporinus sometimes, however, used the device of his
partner, Winteh— which was an armed Minerva (borrowed from Herodotus, his
first motto being borrowed from Euripides) with an inscription that had but too
striking an allusion to his own domestic aifairs~iuvolved by such a partner-
ship. Here it is, as given in Maittaire : xUKXog Tciov aV^puinlvviV irpuy-
fKuroiV TTSpK^spoi^svog ovx. la asi TOvg avrovg Ivro^iiv.

* Next comes Andreas Ckatander.] We have spent so many interesting
minutes in the company of Oporimis, that Cratander must have but very few
seconds of our attention. Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 116-7, has some pithy notices of
a few of his Greek publications, in conjunction with his typographical bretheren,
Sichardus, Gemusius (his son-ui-law) and Bebelius. His device, above given,
appears as early as 1.525 ; but it also appears, of about the same size, yet of
miserably inferior workmansliip, at the end of the Epistles of BudcEus of 1521,
4to. in my possession. The frontispiece of this quarto volume is of thorough-
bred Basil composition : and on each of the sides we see a naked boy, bearing a
shield, upon which is the figure of the piinter reduced to within about the com-
pass of half an inch. The Greek types, like almost all the early Greek types
used at Basil, have a stiff and repulsive aspect. The device of Cratander,
like that of many other contemporaneous printers, was imitated in the earlier
books of Emblems : see vol. i. p. 256.

* the singular devices of Valentine Cukic] These devices, however, are
as elegant as they are ' singular.' The first is taken from the Commentary of Aero
upon the Odes of Horace, 1527, 8vo : the second, from a magnificent impression,
in folio, of a Latin version of Strabo, of the date of 1523 : having a good deal of
accompaniment, in the form of an arch, with columns ; and the name of the
printer, at full length, above. These latter have been omitted in the above repre-
sentation. The frontispiece of this Strabo is not superior to what we observe in that
of the Cornucopia of Perottus, by the same printer, of the date of 1532, in folio :
which is absolutely a match for that of the third edition of Erasmus's Greek
Testament, partially described in vol. i. p. 235. Curio's very small tablet is
happily introduced at the bottom of it, Valentine Curio had a son of the name
of Jerom : but one would like to know more of either than what appears in the
Annal, Typog. vol. ii. p. 342, &c. vol. iii. p. 232. Conrad Gesner honoured
the son by dedicating to him one of the books of his Pandects — ' Tu enim
(Hieronyme charissime) optimi patris Valentini Curionis et ejus successorum
vestigia adolescens adhuc secutus, utilissimos indies libros htereditario quodam
lure tuo in commune suppeditas.' Encouraging words these, from a veteran like
Conrad Gesner !

The Devices of Valentine Cuiiio.

190

SIXTH DAY.

What have we here? The Three Basil Palm Trees!

indeed, we have occasionally some volumes of most admirable
workmanship.

* the superior execution of that of Bebelius.] John Bebelius was also one of
the printers, who, in company with Isingrinius, his son-iu-Iaw, was deemed
worthy of receiving a dedication at the hands of Conrad G esner — who inscribed
to them the second book of his Pandects. See this noble dedication extracted in
Maittaire's A7inaL Typog. vol. iii. p. 228, &c. — in which the critic tells the latter,
that, ' immediately after his father-in-law had given up business [to enjoy his
honey-suckle bower of retirement — satisfied with a moderate fortune but widely-
extended fame] he resumed the occupations of the printing office ; and put forth,
as were wont to be put forth from that same office, excellent books, beautifully
printed, upon paper of equal excellence.' Bravo, good old Conrad ! This is as it
should be. (Think, bibliomaniacal reader, of the Polydore Vergil by the said
Bebelius, before referred to in vol. i. p. 233). Erasmus also makes a glorious
exception in favour of our Bebelius, to whose press both he and Grynaius were
particularly attached. Thus, in an epistle to John More, speaking of the edition
of Aristotle'sWorks, of the date of 1531, edited by Grynaeus, he writes as follows:
(for let us have his eulogy clothed in its original garb) ' Jam si quis expendat ,
quantis vigiliis, quantis sudoribus, quantis etiam impendiis parata sit hsec studiosis
omnibus commoditas, fatebitur plurimum et favoris et gratiae deberi Joanni
Bebei.io, qui, quum possit aliorum exemplo, frivolis ac mox emorituris Libellis
venari jjrEesens lucrum, maluit In egregios auctores maximam facultatum suarura
partem periclitari,' Armal. Typog. vol. ii, p. 343-4. What remains then, but that
the Bebelian Volumes have good bindings and conspicuous places upon our book-
shelves ! .''

192

SIXTH DAY.

' Another and another still succeeds.' These Basil printers
give one rather tough work : yet I should be loth to omit
the names of Hervagius, Brylinger,* and the Petruses.*

* HervagiuSj Brylingeh, and the Petruses.] These shall be dispatched
in the order in which they here stand. Hervagius married Froben's widow ; and
this, without the additional claim of being a careful printer, and a learned man,
might have been sufficient to secure for hun the attachment and commendation
of Erasmus : who, indeed, in an epistle to him, extracted by Maittaire, vol. ii.
p. 359, says every thing that is kind, honourable, and encouraging. Hervagius
was carressed by Egnatius and Gerbelius as well as by Erasmus ; and his produc-
tions, both as a scholar and printer, only strengthened the intimacy which a
knowledge of his private virtues had created. His press was employed by a great
number of literary characters of eminence ; but let him, who would tranquilly
gaze upon a ' rich and rare' specimen of early Greek printing at Basil, hie to the
library of Durham Cathedral, founded by Dean Sudbury ! — and therein draw forth,
' with no unhallowed hands,' the copy of the Greek Septuag'tnt, printed by
Hervagius in 1545, folio : 'Tis surely one of the most magnificent specimens of a
genuine old book which can be seen or handled ! Maittaire, vol. ii, p. 359-373,
will furnish abundance of literary gossip respecting Hervagius, whose triple-headed
device exhibits several varieties.

Nicolas Brylinger and his ferocious Lions (sometimes two and sometimes
three in number, and these again sometimes large and sometimes small in size)
claims our attention as the next in the order ' to be dispatched.' Conrad
Gesner dedicated to him the 4th hook of his Pandects ; and in this dedication,
as may be seen in Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 231, much is said in praise of the
purity and accuracy of his press. Brylinger lived to his 60th year at least. His
Greek types are rather more flowing than those of the generality of his country-
men, but liis paper and his ornaments are very much inferior to what we see in
the publications of Bebelius.

The Petrusks executed a world of books. There was Adam, the father, and
Henry and Jerom his sons. Henry, again, had a son of the name of Sebastian.
Adam had been a fellow labourer with Froben, in the office of the latter. Read
Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 344, &c. Henry received the dedication of Gesner's book
• upon Music,' (in his Pandects) which dedication is reprinted by Maittaire,
ibid. His epitaph, dying in his 71st year, in 1579, is given in a note in the
Annal. Typog. vol. iii. p. 220) and his liberality towards the relatives of Oporinus
has been before recorded (p. 187). The device above given is that of Sebastian,
his son — ^from the Virgil of 1613. There are endless varieties of it : being an
allusion to their name — which is the Greek for a Rock.

We may now say farewell to the Basil Press — concerning which, as the
reader must have ere this been convinced, a very interesting volume, sprinkled
with an abiuidance of litei-ary anecdotes, might be put forth : yet who is the

SIXTH DAY.

193

You have here the usual devices of these once far-famed
typographical heroes; premising, that there are several
varieties of each. But of Hervagius, the friend of Gesner,
and a printer of no ordinary talent and celebrity, I could, if
the boundaries of tins day's discussion permitted, bring
forward more than one solitary sentence of commendation ;
and Maittaire, if I remember rightly, is not parsimonious in
his eulogy of the same.

The Device of John Hervagius.

enterprising anliquary to attempt it? And how many fifty readers will be found
to give encouragement to such an attempt ? If there shall be discovered less taste,
less wit, less fancy, and less general interest, in such annals, compared with what
the annals of the Venetian Press (of which presently) might, in the same period,
produce, there will nevertheless be found a greater portion of solid learning, of
pure unaifected goodness of head and of heart, and a greater desire to spread, far
and near, as well the study of ancient classical lore, as of sound theological
learning. Indeed, if the sacred text be indebted to one place more than
another for its circulation, it is to Basle ! Here, too, the champions of the
reformed Church indulged pretty freely in their strictures upon the Papal See :
and I consider the following, amongst numberless similar works, to have been an

VOL. II. N

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of the Petres.

offspring of the Basil or Zurich press. 'Tis as comical as it is rare. Tt is st_yled
' Epistola missa Clementi Papae Sexto.' • Isthec epistola fuit a paucis dlebus casu
reperta iii libro quodam tabularum Alphonsi regis velustissirao, quam quuni
viderem moribus nostri sseculi, plusquara illius quo missa fuit, congruere, banc ad
verbum fideiitCr describi curavi, nihil oraitteris dictorum luciferi. Porro in fronte
erat scriptuni. " Clemens sextus Episcopus Romanus circa annum Christi Mil
Trecentesi Quadragesimum Quintum reguauit."

It is a very small tract, of 6 leaves only ; with an ornamented title-page :
having the following colophon on the recto of the sixth leaf :

^ Datum in centra terra, ac in palaa
tio 7iostro tenebricoso, prcEsentibus no'
stris demonibus, propter hoc specialiter
euocatis ad nostrum consistorium dolo'
rosum: sub nostri teriibilis signi charas
ctere, in robur pramissorum.

This description is taken from a beautiful copy of this curious production in
the well cliosen library of Sk Hudson Lowe.

SIXTH DAY. 195

The Device of Nicolas Buylinger.

The device of Brylinger * is unquestionably a most singular
one. You sometimes see only one lion, en petit : and some-
times this trileonine group is of larger dimensions — be-
traying, however, a most frightful ignorance of the know-
ledge of design and grouping. Yet I own, while the device
seems inexplicable, there is something about it bold and
interesting. The English, you know, love a Lion in ever}'^

possible shape and position except that of darting upon

them !

With these embellishments we must bid adieu to Basil;
nor must we stay longer at Geneva than just to bestow a
moment's admiration on the very tasteful device of Eustace
Vignon; borrowed in part from that of Froben, Aldus, and
the Wolfii.

* The above device is taken from a Greek edition of Xenophon, of the date
of 1550, in folio ; and nothing but the indifference of the paper would prevent
this impression from ranking among the finer Greek books.

196

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of Eustace Vignon.

Away now for Zurich / . . if it be only to express our de-
light at the droll grouping of the Frogs of Christian
JFroschover* — the intimate friend of our well beloved

* tJic Frogs nf Ciiristophkr Froschover.] Is it, gentle reader, because
the word ' Frog-nall ' forms a part of the name of huii, who, in these notes
more especially, ' holds converse ' with thee, that I have been so long led
to cherish a particular fondness for the typographical reputation of the above
mentioned Christopher Froschover? In truth, the answer is of little con-
sequence : but as Froschover was ' a very familiar ' of my great favourite Conrad
Gesner, he shall have justice done him at my hands. He began to print in

SIXTH DAY^. 197

CoNKAD Gesner. I owii the sight of these frogs is very
exhilirating to me, as they are generally to be found in the
frontispieces of books, the texts of which are well deserving of
perusal: and do pray, T beseech you, let the said ' frogs'

1522. I possess a few of his smaller pieces of the elate of 1523, in the title-pages
of which is a small whole-lengtli figure of Christ, with the motto of ' Come
unto me all ye that labour,' &c. subjoined. The same motto appears to his title-
page embellishments of the ' Last Supper,' and ' the Healing of the Sick;' the
latter, however, is different from the one which forms the bottom compartment at
page 201 , post. In a treatise of Zuinglius, entitled Subsidium de Eucharistia,l5^S,
4to. (in which are two vastly-pretty and well-wflrked capital initials) the device,
forming the fourth, at page 200, is probably given for the first time, with a Greek
motto at top, and another on tlie right side, having Latin versions opposite. The
first motto is similar to that which was afterwards adopted by W. Morel : see
p. 100, ante. The device itself has surely very considerable elegance. Tlie
device, here subjoined, is taken from the end of the small tract, of the frontis-
piece of which a fac-simile appears at page 201. It is of unusually rare
occurrence.

The type of Froschover bears so close a resemblance to that which was used
at Basil, that I cannot but consider it as cut from the same matrices. Froschover
appears to have carried on a prosperous trade for full fifty years : see Maittaire,
vol. ii. p. 381-6 — where Gesner's dedication to him, of one of the books of his

198

SIXTH DAY.

have always a bit of meadow-land, in the territories of your
libraries, wherein they may ' disport themselves at large !'

The Device of Christian Froschover.

Pandects (' upon Grammar ') will be read with infinite satisfaction by ' the curious
in these matters.' I wish the limits of this note would permit its transcription.
Gesner gives Froschover ' the first place among the more eminent printers of
the day :' and says (An. 1548) that, ' from his 26th year, he had executed
almost all the best books — many in the Latin and German languages, and a few
in the Greek— with the utmost accuracy and diligence ; so as to supply every desi-
deratimi to be wished for in an accomplished printer.' Froschover certainly spared
no expense to dress old Gesner in the best possible suit. Maittaire reprints a
Catalogue of the Books which Froschover published at Zurich. His name
appears to Simler's republication of tlie Bibliotheca of Gesner in 15B3. If so, he
must have been a veteran indeed in his profession !

The Device of the Same.

200

SIXTH DAY.

The Device of the Same.

And now, my excellent friends, let me ask you whether
there be not a good deal of drollery in all these exhibitions ?
Would you quarter any of them in your arms ? But I have
not yet done with the printer who has indulged us with them:
for, as you may remember us to have paid a few minutes
attention to one of the decorative title-pages of Colinseus, so
let us, contrasting Basil with Paris art, devote the same
attention to a similar title-page of this said Froschover.
Admit that there is much spirit and taste in the composition
which you here behold; especially in the lower compartment
of it. There can be also no doubt, I submit, that the same
artists were employed both at Basil and Zurich. The design,
the execution, the knack, (as Mr. Ottley emphatically calls

SIXTH DAY.

201

it) are precisely similar. I wish indeed that modern title-
pages occasionally exhibited the same elegant and inviting
aspect.

O S VA L

DI MYCONII LVCER
nani ad facerdotes Heluetia?,
qui Tigurinis male loquu
iuv fuaforia, ut male lo
qui definant.

TIGVRI IN AEDIB.
Chriflophori Frofchouer,
AnnoM.D.XXIIII.
Menfe Februa
rio.

I4W'

Yet Bern is rather too important a town, in the annals of
the Swiss Press, to be passed over without some mention, how-
ever shght, of one of its ancient typographical artists. Take,

202 SIXTH DAY.

therefore, the very singular and striking device (being a pun
upon his own name) which we observe in the volumes of
Apiarius.*

The Device of Apiarius

Let us now say farewell to these Swiss typographical
artists ; and regretting that the modern annals of Switzer-
land do not furnish us with equally interesting specimens of
printing, let us hurry forward to —

* in the volumes of Apiarius.] The above device appears in one of these
volumes entitled ' Catalogus Annonim et Principum Geminus ah homine condito
usque in prcEsentem, a nato Christo mdxl, ^c. per D. Valerium Anselmam Ryd.
1540, Folio. It is in the frontispiece of the book ; the text of which has a pro-
fusion of wood-cut ornaments, especially of portraits, in the margin. These
portraits are often repeated ; and in point of style of art, and merit of execution,
are much upon a par with those in Sebastian Munster's Cosmographia Universalis.
See vol. i. p. 240.

SIXTH DAY.

203

LoEENZo. Venice — I trust?

Lysander. Venice, with all my heart ! You know how
enthusiastically attached I am to the earlier annals of the
press of that renowned city — and you have not forgotten, I
trust, the honourable mention recently made of both the De
Spiras, of Jenson, and of the Scots : yet there is scarcely
time for a satisfactory denouement of this interesting dis-
cussion. . . ,

LisARDO. What mean you ?

Lysander. If the day be not ' far spent,' the Monarch
of it, at least, begins to feel symptoms of ennui ; and in such
a state can I presume to do justice to the Alduses, the

SeSS^, GlOLlTI, &c, ?

Lorenzo. The first of these Venetian printers, upon
your list, will cost you but little trouble ; as Monsieur
Renouard has devoted three octavo volumes (of which the
last, however, is only a ' Supplement' to the two preceding)
to an account of the Annals of the Aldine Press ; * and to
his credit and reputation be it affirmed, that we have no
where a similar work executed, throughout, with the like
precision, interest, and spirit. Its accuracy, upon the whole,
is quite delightful; and if I could secure for the same
shrewd bibliographer another half century of years, with

* Renouard's Annals of the Aldine Press.'\ Mr. Renouard published liis vefy
useful and popular work under tlie following title : ' Annales de VImprimerie des
Aide, ou Historie des Trois Manuce et de leurs Editions. Par Ant. Aug. Renouard.
A Paris. Chez Antoine-Augustin Renouard,' 1803, 8vo. 2 vol. In 1812 (' literally
following the precept of Horace') the author published his ' Supplement/ a small
octavo volume, consisting of about 160 pages, exclusively of the preface — which
volume is of course absolutely necessary to the bibliographical student. One of
the principal acquisitions of this Supplement is, the more detailed account which
it contains of the books printed in the Aldine Press for the ' Venetian Academy,'
Of these latter, presently. Nothing can be well added to the eulogy of Lysander
i^especting the merit of these interesting and important volumes.

204

SIXTH DAY.

powers of mind and of body equally unimpaired, I would
urge him most vehemently to do for the Stephens in his
own country, and for the Giunti at Florence, what he has
done for his beloved Alduses at Venice !

LiSARDO. But to the point. Proceed, dear Lysander,
Lysandeu. My beginning will be also a conclusion, I
fear; for, as Lorenzo has justly observed, Monsieur
Renouard has done almost every thing for the Aldine
Triumvirate. Yet I know not why Roccha and Mait-
taire* should be defrauded of their due praise; since the
latter of these two previous writers has, with his usual
enthusiasm and perseverance, contrived to make us fall
w^onderfully in love with the earlier history of the Aldine
press. Nor must I omit to call your particular attention to
the very elegant outline of the history of the establishment
of the same press exhibited by Mr. Roscoe, in his Li/e and
Pontificate of Leo JC.f

* Roccha and Maitt.mee.] Roccha was ati acquaintance of the younger
Aldus, the grandson of the first printer of that name ; yet his account of the
Aldine press, to be found in his Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, 1591, 4to.
Appx. p. 402-3 — is rather indirect or subordinate. However, at page 412,
he thus ranks the elder Aldus among the more distinguished of ancient printers :
' Quos inter, Aldus Pius Manutius senior primum hac in re locum occupauit,
atque ita, vt oriinibus in rebus quidquid exacti, quidqaid pulchri, quidquid denique
boui appareat, idipsmn Typographiae Aldinae nomine ex prouerbio nuncupari
soleat : fuit enim doctissinius, ac non minus re, quani cognomine, Pius, omnique
laude dignus,' &c. A more copious extract from Roccha will be given hereafter.
Maittaire has devoted a considerable number of pages (beginning at page 65) of
the reprint of the first volume of his Annales, <^c. (1733) to an account of the
earlier productions of the Aldine Press ; and especially of those executed in the
Greek language : nor have the labours of Renouard by any means superseded
the very scholar-like and satisfactory details of Maittau-e. I shall keep him in
mind as the following Aldine Memoranda are composed.

t Mr. Roscoe, in his Life and Pont^cate of Leo X] The account of ' Aldo
Manuzzio,' as given by Mr. Roscoe, will be found in the second chapter of the
work just mentioned ; or from page 161 to 170, inclusively, in vol. i. of the
second edition of it, in 1806, 8vo. Although this account be comparatively brief

SIXTH DAY.

205

Know then, that the father of the Aldine family, Aldus

up a printing office, while he was on a visit at Mirandola^
with the celebtated Picus* of that place, in conjunction

with that which appears in Maittaire and Renouard (to which latter authority,
Mr. Roscoe, as far as I can discover, does not appear to make any reference)
yet is it executed in a manner at once elegant and interesting. Indeed the
frontispiece to the second volume of the first edition cf the Life of Leo X., in
quarto, contains a large stipled engraving of the head of Aldus — from a supposed
original of the pencil of Giovanni Battista, in the possession of the late Mr. James
Edwards.

* on a visit at Mirandola with the celebrated Picus.] Let me first briefly remark,
that Aldus was born in the year 1446 or 1447. His Christian name, Aldus, was
a contraction of Theobaldus. See Geret's edition of Unger's Life of Aldus,
p. vii. His sirname was Manutius-— to which he sometimes added the appella-
tive of Pius, or Bassianas, or Romanus. The fjrst of these appellatives was
assumed by Aldus from his having been the tutor of Albehtus Pius, a prince of
the noble house of Carpi, and to whom the grateful printer dedicated the Organou
of Aristotle, in 1495. Renouard, vol. ji. p. 3; Roscoe, vol. i. p. 162 : and see
note (c) in this latter place. Consult also the interesting note * in Unger's
biography of Aldus by Geret, p. viii. The second of these appellatives was
derived from the name of the birth-place of the printer — namely, Bassian , a
small town in the Dutchy of Sermonelta, See Geret or Unger, p. vii.-cxxviii.
This title however was dropt by Aldus about the year 1500, when he assumed
that of Romanus; because Bassiano was under the juridiction of Rome. As Mr.
Roscoe justly observes, the four names, ' Aldus Manucius Basianas Romanus,'
appear together in the Thesawrus Cornucopia of 1496 : see also the Bihl. S})encer.
vol, iii. p. 122— where the interesting address of Aldus ' to the studious,' with the
forementioned united appellatives, is given almost entire. The name of' Pius'
was not assumed till 1503.

The plan of the Aldine Press, as Lyander properly intimates, is supposed to
have been both meditated and matured on a visit paid by its founder to Albertus
Pius, and John Picus, at Mirandola, (the residence of the latter distinguished
scholar) about the year 1482 — on the I'etreat of Aldus from Ferrara, at that time
threatened by an attack from the Venetians. Indeed, an epistle of Aldus to Poli-
tian(as referred to by Mr. Roscoe) confirms this inference. Whether a vellum
COPY of Jenson's Macrobius of 147 2 — at that time perchance lying upon the table
around which these distinguished characters were assembled— might have given an
additional stimulus to their resolves, it is not in the compass of my information
satisfactorily to prove j but that Venice should have been the place, selected by

206

SIXTH DAY.

with his noble pupil Albektus Pius. About the year
1488 he is supposed to have taken up his residence at
Venice, as the favourite city in which to mature his plans ;

Aldus for the establishment of a printing office, is, to me, ' nd matter' whatever of
' marvel' — for in what other place, at that period, had the art of typography
exhibited such proofs of its ' capabilities?' To Venice, then, Aldus goes, about
the year 1488 or 1489 — as, in the address just referred to, of the date of 1496,
he says that he writes in the 7th year of the establishment of his office — and adds
(frightful to think upon ! !) that during the seven years he had ' never enjoyed
one hour of sound sleep.'

To Aldus we are probably first indebted for a series of publications in a
minor or octavo form : it being rai-ely that we observe publications, of the
same shape, put forth in the xvth century. The Virgil of 1501 is supposed, not
0013"^ to be the first attempt at this octavo series, but to exhibit the earliest spe-
cimen of the Italic or Cursive type : a character, generally acknowledged as the
exclusive ornament or boast of the Aldhie press. The cutter of this tj'pe was
Francis of Bologna ; but, if the evidence of Jcronimo Soncino be to be trusted,
Aldus has not the honour of having first suggested this elegant form of type.
Mr. Singer pointed out to me the following passage — relating to this interesting
question — from the Sonnets and Triumphs of Petrarch, published by the said
Soncino in 1503, 8vo.; (a volume of extr^ie rarity, and which, through his means,
only very lately, has adorned the Althorp library) wherein it will be seen that
Aldus Romanus receiveth rather a sharp box — either upon the right, or left ear,
or upon both — in consequence of having taken upon himself the exclusive credit
of first suggesting this said form of type.—-' E per mia exhortatione no solo sono
venuti quiui li compositori tanto notabili, et sufficient!, quanto sia possibile adire :
roa anchora vn nobilissimo sculptore de littere latine grsece et hebraice, chiamato.
M, Fracesco. da Bologna. I'igeno delq le certamete credo che in tale exercitio no
troue vn altro equale. Perche non solo le vsitate stampe perfectamente sa fare :
ma etiam ha excogitato vna noua forma de littera dicta cursiua, o vero cacella-
resca. de la quale non Aldo Romano, ne altri che astutamente hanno tetato
de le altrui pene adomarse. Ma esso. M. Francesco e stato primo inuentore et
designatore : el quale e tucte le forme de littere che mai habbia stampato dicto
Aldo ha intagliato, e la praesente forma, co tanta gratia e venustate, quanta
facilmente in essa se comprende.' (Address of the Publisher to Ccesar Borgia.)

This passage is unquestionably curious. Yet Aldus, in the preface of his Virgil,
not only claims to be the first who has suggested the adoption of this type — and
encircles the brow of Francis of Bologna with a poetic triplet, for having so com-
pletely succeeded in the execution of it — but the Senate of Venice, in the year
1502, granted him an exclusive privilege for the use of it ; observing — ' charac-
teribus utriusque linguae sic ingeniose effictis et colligatis, ut conscripti calamo
esse uideantur.' See Geret's edition of Unger's Life of Aldus, 1753, 4to, p. xxi.

SIXTH DAY.

207

and about the year 1494, or 1495, he put forth there the
first production of his press — ^which was either the Musceus
of the supposed date of the former, or the Lascaris of the

From a passage in an Epistle of Erasmus, as selected by Maittaire, (vol. ii.
p. 343, note (g) it should seem at any rate tliat these Aldine octavo classics were
published at very moderate prices. I will at present say nothing of the few
marvellously beautiful copies of them which were usually struck off upon

VELLUM.

In 1500 Aldus married the daughter of Andreas Asulanus ; and about
this time, or probably a year or two earlier, he printed the first leaf, in folio, of
a proposed edition of the Bible in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages : so that,
as Renouard justly observes, Aldus has the honour of having first suggested the
plan of a Polyglot Bible, however that plan failed of being carried into effect.
The only known copy of this exquisitely precious fragment is in the Royal library
at Paris. Renouard, vol. ii. p. 28, touches upon it witli the proper feeling of a
bibliomaniacal virtuoso. In 1502 they began to counterfeit the octavo Aldine
editions at Lyons; whereupon our printer, as juight have been expected, ex-
presses his justly-provoked wrath and indignation. See his ' Proclamation,' as it
were, hereupon, in Renouard, vol. ii. p. 207. Such sort of piracies are truly
Algerine ! In 1506 and 1507 the worthy Aldus appears to have been in con-
stant trouble and perplexity. In 1508 his father-in-law took part in the business ;
and conducted it, after the death of the son-in-law, till 1529, with unwearied
attention to the reputation and profit of the office. In a postscript to one of his
letters to Erasmus, of the date of 1517, (two years after the death of Aldus)
Asulanus thus expresses himself respectiug his son-in-law. ' Scripta jam epis-
tola, in mentem venit res, quam cupiebam scire, proinde earn rem adscripsi :
nosti enim (nam tum aderas) quantum temporis consumsit in emendando Terentio,
Aldus, gener mens suavissiraus ac charissimus, quem, quje illius virtus fuit miri-
fica, non possum non iiominare sine multa prajfatione honorum, quem, inquam,
Erasme, quae illius humanitas fuit, non sine lachrymis semper nomino : turn in
Plauto, quanta usus est industria, in qua enim re tu multum ilium adjutasti, &c.
Eras. Opera, vol. iii. col. 1666. It was in the same year (1508) that the first
interview between Erasmus and Aldus took place ; and the anecdote relating to
it, as told by Beatus Rhenanus,(in his life of the former— see Bates's Vit Select.
p. 199) is sufficiently amusing. ' Having brought his Adagia to a conclusion,
(says Rhcnaniis) Erasmus wrote to Aldus to ask him whether he would print it;
which the latter readily agreed to undertake. The former therefore arrived at
Venice ; and, on knocking at the door of the Aldine printing office, was com-
pelled to wait a long time before he could obtain a sight of the master of it ;
owing, adds Rhenanus, either to the actual occupation of Aldus with his pressmen,
or to his supposing the visitor to be one of those ordinary ones who call out of
mere curiosity— [for it sliould seem that Erasmus, after the modern fashionj did
not send his name, or card, ' up stairs*] When, however, the printer understood

208

SIXTH DAY.

positive date of 1495. From that period, till the close of his
life in ] 5 15, (too short a period, for the exercise of talents so
calculated for the benefit of mankind !) did this same dis-

that it was Erasmus who waited below, he ran to him, apologised for his appa-
rently-ungracious reception, embraced him in the kindest manner, and took
him to the house of his father-in-law— where they caroused, I ween, over the
choicest flagon (rf wine ; and surrounded hy Vellum Virgils, Horaces, Petrarchs,
and Dantes, made their illustrious guest sensible of the high opinion in wliich
he was held by them. Erasmus possibly never spent a more joyous or a more
memorable stay. Did he bring away with him, by dint of coaxing, or of money,
any of the vellum bijoux just mentioned.''

The years 1.5J0 and 1511 were singularly fatal (chiefly from the state of public
affairs) to the progress of the Aldine Press. Not a volume is known to have
issued from it during the same period. All books therefore, bearing the preceding
dates, are spurious : mere Algerine piracies! But in 1.512 the Aldine batteries
(still thinking of Lord Exraouth and the Dey of Algiers !) were opened with
renewed vigour and effect; and such was the anxiety, diligence, and unabateable
ardour of the master-engineer, that, in his advertisement to the Lascaris of the
same date (y iiij rev.) he tells the reader that ' he has hardly time even to inspect,
much less to correct the sheets, which are executed in his office — that his days
and his nights are devoted to the preparation of fit materials — and that he can
scarcely take food, or strengthen his stomach, owing to the multiplicity and
pressure of business — meanwhile, adds he, with both hands occupied, and sur-
rounded by pressmen who are clamorous for work, there is scarcely time even to
blow one's nose !* O terribly-severe occupation,' &c. This year (1512) brought
him his son Paul Manutius ; but the exact time of his birth, as well as that of
another son, Anthony, (who is supposed to have been afterwards a printer at
Bologna) is unknown. A daughter, which he also had, is even unknown by
name ; and the same ignorance obtains respecting the christian name of his
wife. The years 1513 and 1514 (the last which witnessed the attendance of
Aldus in his office) were as fortunate, as the years 1510 and 1511 had been
adverse, to the reputation and profit of the master of the press under description.
The Pindar, Plato, and Greek Rhetoricians are among the more important pro-
ductions of the first of the two years just above mentioned ; while the Suidas,
Hesychius, and AthentEUS, afford demonstration of the value of the labours of the
latter of these two years. In 1515 both the republic of literature, and his own
family, sustained an irremediable loss by the death of this great printer and pro-
moter of literature. The immediate cause of his decease is, I believe, unknown:
but the reader can readily imagine, from a life like that in part only just
described, a thousand causes which must have produced such an effect I The
wonder may be, when such a life is reflected upon, that Aldus was permitted

* ' uasum emungere.' Sic.

SIXTH DAY.

209

tinguished character— with a spirit, taste, and judgment,
equally noble and well-regulated *— put forth, from his
printing office, a series chiefly of classical volumes, at that

even to live so long. ' Aldus, (says Erasmus) hospes meus, multis post annis periit,
haud niulto minor annis septuaginta, sed tamen animo ad literas mire juvenilL'
Erusmi Opera, vol. iii. col. 788 D.

* spirit, taste, and judgment, equally noble and well-regulated.'} First, as to his
spirit; which, as it seemed to pervade all Italy, so has it been recorded by a
proportionate number of pens. ' Nam ut alia taceam (says Morillonus) quis Aldi
industriam, patientiam, vigilias squet? Quis ardorem litteraris rei juvands
ffimuletur.? Era^mi Opera, vol. iii. col. 1608. E. Never had a human being a
more thorough affection for literature. In one of his letters to Politian, he says,
' incredibilis enim erga doctissimum quemque meus est amor.' See Maittaire,
vol. i. p. 67 : and Maittaire himself observes that, ' to a universal knowledge he
added an unconquerable industry and diligence.' Indeed Aldus's own words
(from the first part of the 3rd volume of his Aristotle, containing the Plants and
Metaphysics of Theophrastus) are sufficiently illustrative of his mental character :
— ' man (says he) is born to labour, and to accomplish something which shall be
deemed worthy of himself.' ' I will never (adds he, in the same passage) desist
from my undertaking until I shall have performed what I have promised : always
unmindful of expense, however great ; and equally regardless of labour, even
were I to live in ease and affluence I' See the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 260.
Sentiments, like these, are worthy of a Being destined for immortality ; and for-
tunate perhaps might it sometimes be, for the condition of human nature, if a
longer period of existence were permitted for its earthly tabe/nacle ! Musurus,
in his epistle to Grolier, prefixed to the Greek and Latin Grammar of Aldus,
of 1515, (which is in part extracted by Maittaire, vol. i. p. ri-3, but is
found entire in Renouard, vol. i. p. 121-3) does ample justice to the spirit
and perseverance of this great printer : calling him ' an admirable character:
sacrificing private to public considerations— sparing neither labour nor ex-
pense-and equally prodigal of his purse and his life.' Mr. Renouard has also a
very spirited passage upon the same subject (vol. ii. p. 33) to which the curious
may with pleasure and facility refer. The learned, in the annals of the Aldine
press, are aware that Aldus wrote an inscription over his door, intimatujgthat ' all
Visitors were to dispatch their business with him quickly, and to take their depar-
ture : unless they came, as Hercules did to Atlas, with a view to render effectual
assistance : in which case there would be sufficient employment both for them
and for as many others as might repau- to the same place.' See Mr. Roscoe's
Life of Leo X. vol. i. p. 169-170— where the original inscription appears to be
copied lineatim. Unger (Edit. Geret. p. xxxxii.) has a pleasant notice of this
inscription.

In the second place, as to his taste. This I believe is universally admitted :
but it may be questioned whether, in any one of his founts of Greek letter, he
VOL. II. o

210

SIXTH DAY.

time perfectly imrivalled. The elder Aldus was indeed
a very dragon at Greek literature! To him, Aristotle,
Aristophanes, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato,

was completely successful. Yet Unger (p. x viiii.) is vehement in commendation
of them. His Bemhus, De ^tna, of 149.5, is the perfection of his Roman type ;
which, in this first and particular specimen, appears (as has been before mti-
mated, vol. i. p. 399) to be modelled after that of Jenson. His Italic type has
a certain quiet and elegance of etfect which renders it very pleasing to the eye ;
but it always appears to me to want the freedom and gracefulness of form dis-
cernible in many of the productions of Plantin's office. Aldus in general made
use of excellent paper ; of a soft or creamy tint, and admirable texture— and the
specimens of his press upon vet.lum are nearly the perfection of the art of
printing. The late Dr. Hunter's copy of Flato, the Aristotle in the library of
Corpus Christi College, and Lord Spencer's shelf of octavos, (including Virgil,
Dante, Horace, Petrarch, Homer, the first Anthology, and Pindar) all of the
VELLUM SPECIES, are perfectly familiar to my recollection on mating this asser-
tion. They are very book-stars — ' teaching the torches to bum bright!' It is
perhaps to be lamented that Aldus did not more frequently indulge the public
with productions in which the art of engraving upon wood might have been repre-
sented ; as the Hypnerotomachia of 1499 is quite a master-piece in this department
of printing. At present, I am unable to mention any octavo which contains a
series of well-executed wood-cuts from the Aldine press : in this latter respect,
the Gioliti, and other contemporaneous printers, have a manifest superionty.

In the third place, as to the judgment of Aldus. The text of his Greek books
has been criticised with much freedom and some severity ; and it is possible, and
even probable, that in his ardour to propagate a knowledge of the illustrious
authors of Greece, in their native tongues, he was not sufficiently choice in the
purity of the texts which he put forth. From what is known of the tenor of his
life, and the multiplicity of his business, even with the aid of the distinguished
scholars who assisted him, (Unger, p. xxxii ; Renouard, vol. ii. p. 23-4 ; and
Roscoe, vol. i. p. 167 ;) it could hardly be expected that Aldus should publish
from a collation of the best known MSS. In consequence, he frequently saw and
corrected his errors while the pages were at press ; and his second editions
usually made reparation for the blunders of the previous ones. It must also
be remembered that, before the time of Aldus, only three Greek books, with
positive dates affixed, had made their appearance in print ; namely, the Lascaris
of 1476, the Homer of 1488, and the Isocrates of 1493 : so that, from a love of
novelty, and of Grecian literature, and from an eagerness to eiicrease the trea-
sures of that language, we may readily imagine that Aldus was oftentimes rather
enthusiastic than critical. His Aristotle of 1495-6, may however be considered
the wonder of the age ; and if succeeding printers have exhibited more acumen
and correctness, it was rather from the evidence of errors manifested in the

SIXTH DAY.

211

Pindar, Plutarch — what would you more ? — were indebted
for their first appearances in their original genuine attires !
Glorious achievement 1

His son Paul Manutius succeeded to the business and
celebrity of his parent: after Andreas Asulanus, the
father- in-law of that parent, had conducted the business
during the earlier years of the son's minority. Manutius
shewed perhaps less ardour for Greek literature than his
father; but he was a more polished Latin scholar, and

jyrinted texts of Aldus, tlian from the more difficult task of collating unpublished
MSS. If the Stephens have reared a loftier superstructure, the boast of
affording that superstructure a safe and permanent foundation is exclusively due
to Aldus. To the immortal honour of our printer it must be noticed, that he
was the first who composed a sort of methodised Latin Grammar for the more
easy acquisition of that language ; prefacing it with this inviting quatrain :

Non mihi per scopulos aut deuia paruus lulus

Ducitur Aonias ebibiturus aquas.
Est uia per placidos colles, per florea rura

Hac iter ad Musas per breue carpe puer.

This grammar was printed by Ponce Le Preux at Paris in 1500. See Sallengre's
M6moires Lit6raires, vol. i. p. 163-4. Unger, p. xxxxiiii, note.

It remains to notice his Devices and his Portrait. Renouard supposes that
Aldus took the immediate outline or composition of his device, from the following
representation of the Dolphin and Anchor in one of the ornaments of the Hypne-
rotomachia, of 1499, at sign. d. vij. rect.

It may be so; but the earlier Aldine Anchors are much at variance with their
elegant prototype. The no. I. of Renouard is the slightly shaded Anchor seen

212

SIXTH DAY.

Cicero was the classical god of his idolatry.* His first
essay, as a printer, was an edition of a portion of the works
of that great man, in 1533, quarto ; and for a succession of

as early as the year 1501. In 1504, if not before, the large unshaded Anchor
occurs thus, in the first Aldine Demosthenes,

In the second edition of the Demosthenes, the device, of nearly the same size,
but equally clumsily executed, appears shaded. These two large devices, and the
smaller one, forming no. 1, of Renouard, were the only ones (I apprehend)
used by the Elder Aldus. His portrdit, according to the ensuing faithful repre-
sentation, appears in the frontispieces of a variety of books : that, here submitted.

SIXTH DAY.

213

nearly forty years, from this date —interrupted however by
pretty constant locomotion, partly from bad health, and partly
from a multiplicity of business— Manutius maintained, if he

being taken from the Cmmentary of Paul Manutius upon Horaces Art of Poetry,
printed by the grandson in 1576, 4to.

I consider the copper-plate representation of him, in the folio Cicero of 1582,
as comparatively feeble and faithless ; and Geret has carried the resemblance to
a still more fanciful and remote pitch. Mr. Roscoe's representation, from the
painting of Giovan Bellino, (who is inaccurately called Giovanni Battista, at
p. 205) is faithful to its original; but we want in it, I think, the severe and
characteristic touches, or indentations, which even the above countenance (of
much less beautiful execution) may be thought to exhibit ; and which were
doubtless observable in the expressive original. Was the bonnet of Aldus rouge,
or noir? Hereupon, we have no details— at which I grieve. Who would not
relish a catalogue raisonn6 of even Aldus's wardrobe ? Did he attend business in
a velvet suit— or were his wedding clothes equally gay with those of Schoiffher?
See vol. i. p. 326. Tradition is cruelly silent upon these points.

* Cicero— the classical God of his idolatry.'] A word of two before the mention
of this Ciceronian adoration. We may previously remark that Paul Manutius
was born in 1512 ; but, upon the death of his father, in the third following year,
it seems uncertain under whose tuition he was placed. Maittaire, whose
Manutiana are extremely full and agreeable, is doubtful upon this point; but
thinks that Baptista Egnatius was his tutor rather than Erasmus. Annal. Typog.
vol. iii. p. 498. Indeed there is hardly any foundation for the supposition of
Erasmus having had the direction of the eariier studies of Paul Manutius. We
should rather, I apprehend, consider P. Bunellus as his master. From his infancy,
our typographical hero evinced the most devoted ardour in the cultivation of
eloquence ; and especially in the Ciceronian composition of the Latin language.

214

SIXTH DAY.

did not increase, the reputation which the Aldine Press
had acquired under the conduct of its founder.

His letter to Saulius, (nearly the whole of which is extracted by Maittaire) of the
date of 1553, as given in Krause's edition of the Epist. Pauli Manutii, 1720,
p. 6, is full of the history of his earlier propensities and studies. Tiie examples
and instructions of Bembo, Sadoletus, and Bonaraici had enflamed liis juvenile
ambition ; and no student ever entered the arena of classical antiquity with
weapons better tempered to give demonstration of the power and skill of the
hands which wielded them. It was in the 21st year of his age that his name
came before the public as an editor and printer ; and the Lihri Oratorii of Cicero,
of the date of 1533, 4to. are considered as the first fruits which succeeded a
blossom of so much promise. Renouard may be consulted to advantage upon
this point : L'Imprim des Aide, vol. i. p. 188-9. The immediately amsecutive
pages of the same work describe the remaining fruits of Manutius's press, which
appeared in the same year : fruits, of equal fragrance, and what is better, of equal
flavour : but I cannot here forego tlie pleasure of making especial mention of his
earliest Greek JBoofc— which was the Themistii Opera Omnia, published in the
following year, 1534, in folio ~ a noble companion to the Galeni Opera Omnixi,
in 1525, 5 vols, folio, put forth, in the same office, by Andreas Asulanus.
Mr. Renouard speaks with delight of the extreme beauty and rarity of copies of
these two works upon large paper. He calls them, in the true language of bib-
lioraaniacism, ' des morceaux infiniment pr6cieux.' Does he chance to remember
the electrical effect produced upon him, by myself, in opening the large paper
copies of both these works contained in Lord Spencer's library— and especially
that of the Themistius ?! — which, il he will not carp at my gallicised biblioma-
niacal phraseology, we will henceforth call ' un exemplaire qui fait reculer ! 1'
These large paper copies, in Lord Spencer's collection, had been previously
unknown to him. He will not, ' I dare think,' (to borrow the favourite phrase of
my friend Bernardo), ' forget them in a hurry '—as we say to the north-west of
Calais Pier !

There is here neither ' space nor verge enough' for a due enumeration of the
talents and occupations of Paul Manutius. As much as possible must therefore
be compressed into the limits assigned to me. I believe I may conscientiously
assert that I have read all the original epistles of that great printer, which were
once so celebrated throughout Europe, and were considered as the ' true Cice-
ronian style revived.' Henry Stephen published them partially, (that is to say,
what he considered as ' Epistolce Ciceroniano stylo scripts') along with those of
Manutius's master, Bunellus, and other Frenchmen and Italians. With the
known asperities and jealousies of that eminent editor, it is no wonder that Paul
Manutius was considered by him as inferior to Bunellus and Longolius— because,
gentle reader, Paul Manutius was not a Frenchman ! This really does seem to
be somewhere about the gist, or main inference, deducihle from Stephen's address
to the Reader ; and his struggle to make Longolius a Frenchman (' seminoster

SIXTH DAY. 215

His Letters are yet the delight and admiration of the
classical student ; and if it had pleased Providence to have

fuerit Longolius, id est semigallus ') is not a little farcical and foolish. From the
Letters of Paul Manutius, as given partially by H. Stephen, or fully by Krause,
a small pocket volume of anecdotes might be collected — sufBcient to amuse the
bibliographical student while he sat in his bay-window retirement, with the
books of Jiis library irradiated by the tints of the last half hour of the sun's
declension. From these we learn, that, from his infancy, Manutius was of a
delicate and sickly habit, and constantly afflicted with weak eyes. Maittaire has
an admirable selection from the printer's own letters, illustrative of this melan-
chol3f subject: — ' Frequentes morbi, (says the former) febres, pituita, tussis,
oculorum lippitudo,' Annal. Typog. vol. iii. p. 506-8. As however the originals
are before me, I may as well make a trifling selection therefrom. In a letter
to his intimate friend and quondam pupil, (as it appears) Anthony Natt,
Manutius seems to take a close view of his own infirmities, with considerable
grief of heart. The passage, upon the whole, is very interesting ; and as it does
not appear to be in Maittaire, the reader may be disposed to forgive its insertion
hei'e. Natt had invited Manutius to come and spend some time with him at
Mantua. Our printer replies thus: ' De aduentu meo muto consilium in horas
singulas. tu me allicis, uel attrahis potius : reuocat et retinet ualetudo. Cum ad
te specto, nauim conscendo, uehor, appello Mantuam, tecum sum : (sic est amor,
et illae quae fluunt ex amore voluntates) rursus, cum ad me conuertor, et meam
iinbecillitatem intueor ; qua made sim, quani tenui cute, quam natura mollis, et
procliuis ad morbos, relanguesco pauUulum, et quasi nauim incitatam leuiter
inhibec' Let us go on but a little way further, ' Vides adhuc, et sentis fortasse,
tentari corpora frigore, leui quidem, sed tentari tamen: uides perflari coelum
uentis ; rationem esse temporis prorsus incertam et inconstantem : quae firmiores
non timent : ego ualetudinarius nisi timeam, parum uidear me nosse, parum uitae
consulere. quod nec humanitatis est, nec satis pium : cum nos iusserit ille summus
imperator quasi suos milites in hac statione, donee ipse reuocauerit, pemianere.
Calores, ut spero (quas niea solet esse anniversaria medicina) me milii restituent.
itaque lunio ineunte, aut eo certe mense, te, ut spero, complectar.' Edit. Steph.
p. 167.

A little onward (p. 169) it appears that three physicians were at one time called
in to consult about the doubtful state of Manutius's liealth.* They recommended

* Let the following affecting letter, to the same intimate friend, Natt' — or
the larger portion of it, amiable reader, creep quietly in here, as an unostentati-
ous sub-note. — ' O mi Natta, si uides quibus premimur et curis et laboribus,
fortasse, si modo uis me vivere, aliter sentis. Incitamur uoluntate, consiliis et
hortatibus amicorum, glorias nonnuUa cupiditate : nec omnino difiidimus ingenio :
uerum ilia, qua tu excellis, quae in tuis dictis et factis elucet prudentia, dissuadet
Me natura pertenui finxit corpore : studiorum accessit non mediocris labor ; ex
quo imbecillitas et morbi. quid res domestica ? quae, quo est angustioi", eo tuenda

216

SIXTH DAY.

endued him with a stronger bodily frame, and to have
' meted ' out to him a larger * measure ' of wealth, we might

air, exercise, green-fields, and country sports and pastimes : and perhaps, if tlie
patient could not exist without ' pen in hand,' a version, into his own tongue, of
Wynkyn de Worde's edition of Juliana Berners upon ' Hunting, Hawking, Fish-
ing, and Coat Armour !' There is scarcely a letter from Manutius in which he
does not complain of the ' weakness of his eyes ;' and in two, to Mui-etus, (Edit.
Krmise, p. 157, 173) he rejoices that his amanuensis is returned to save him the
pain of gazing upon white paper. In tlie second of these, he begins thus : ' you
can scarcely think with what difficulty my pen performs its office when it is
under the direction of my own hands — and with what facility my composition
flows when the same pen is under the guidance of an amanuensis.'

His family afflictions did not arise from the ill-humour or bad principles of Ms
wife ; for, in one of his letters to Saulius, (Edit. Krause, p. 18) he is copious and
touching in commendation of her excellent domestic qualities, Herein he had a
better lot than poor Oporinus ! See page 181 ante. His brothers-in-law, how-
ever, gave him a great deal of trouble ; yet, in the end, he appears to have con-
ciliated all parties. Maittaire has a good nervous passage worth quoting here —
in reference to the unconquerable spirit of this illustrious printer. ' Tot occupa-
tionibus districto mirum est uUum, quod in studiis literariis contereret, otium
superfuisse. His tamen oneribus domesticis pressus, h^c malorum Iliade circum-
septus, nunquam succubuit.' vol. iii. p. 508. Such was his diligence and energy
that he sometimes devoted those hours, which were absolutely necessary to slum?
ber and rest, towards his epistolary correspondence. In one of his letters to
Muretus, he dates it ' before sun-rise, at dawn of day 1' (' Ante solis ortum,
albescente die.') In short, the literary ambition, and the great leading objects
of Manutius's mind, were always too vast for the means of their accomplishment.
The substratum was Bonelaske's cement ; the superstratum, Egyptian granite.
* You wish me (says this truly eminent scholar and printer, in one of his letters

diiigentius est. quid typographia? quam ita mihi tractandam intelligo, non ut
omnia ad utilitatem, sicut multi, sed pleraque ad meam existimationein referam
ac dignitatem, quo proposito, nihil est operae, nihil studii recusandum : ac ssepe
(ut ait poeta ille tuus) sudamus et algemus. Amicis etiam salutantibus horae
dandae sunt, vel aliquid petentibus officia tribuenda. [here examine also, for one
moment, the first extract in Maittaire, vol. iii. p. 506] qui si excludantur, aut
rejiciantur ; sane consuletur otio meo, rebus meis, ualetudiui meae : sed ubi huma-
nitas? quas quam sit hominis propria, nomen ipsum indicat. lacent igitur
inchoata, plane rudia, temere uel dissipata, uei confusa, roea scripta ; quae non-
nunquam, sicuti mater languentem filium, cum dolore tacitus adspicio ; opem
ferre, quam uidentur postulare, non queo. Quare, si quid apud te hominis tui
amantissimi salus est, non debes me ad scriptionem uocare, tot assidue, tam uariis,
tanti momenti occupationibus distentum. adiuua me potius consilio, si potes : aut
minue molestiam consolando : opta saltern (et hoc ipsum significa) ut haec quae
nunc sustineo, perferam, et is quem voliunus, principiis exitus respondeat.' &c.
Edit. Stqah, p. 175.

SIXTH DAY.

217

possibly, at this day, have witnessed an original work, con-
nected with the Antiquities of the Cities of Venice cmd
Rome,f or with the History of the Personal Literature of
the Age, which would have continued to interest the latest
posterity. We are chiefly indebted to the enterprise and

to Saulius, edit. Krause, p. 19,) to open the road to eloquence : an attempt, at
once bold, difficult, and involved — demanding much leisure, and mental tran-
quility— whicli, as I have frequently told j^ou, it will never be my good fortune to
possess ; and a state of nerves, infinitely stronger than those which you imagine
to belong to myself . . . Indeed, indeed, I am but too well acquainted with my
bodily infirmities. Yet, if I fail, the attempt will at least be deemed glorious!'

Like his father, he courted the society, and cultivated the friendship, of
literarjr chai'acters of eminence-,* and seemed never happy but in the projection
of literary schemes, or in the publication of the classical treasures of antiquity.
Almost as frequently at Rome as at Venice, and carrying on publications at both
places — presented with the professorship-chairs of two cities, which ' he did
thrice i-efuse ' — Maimtius continued, pertinaceously and immoveably, to disport
himself with his Dolphin and Anchor, in a series of some of the most useful as
well as elegant volumes which ever adorned the annals of the press. His erudi-
tion as well as his taste was probably superior to that of his father ; and his
commentaries upon the works of Cicero are of such calibre, that no reprint of that
great Roman orator's works can be considered perfect without them. In spite of
his mental anxieties and shattered bodily frame, it pleased divine providence to
prolong his existence till 1574 ; when he expired, in the arms of his son, and in
the zenith of his own reputation.

His physiognomy, as appears by the authenticated portraits of him, was truly
Venetian ; and it is not very improbable that we are indebted to the pencil of
Titian for the original painting. M. Renouard has had this portrait, cut upon
copper, prefixed to the second volumes of his ' Annates but the same portrait
liad been previously published by Krause, among others — apparently copied
from the copper-plate representation which appears at the top of the frontispiece,
to the left hand, of the Entire Works of Cicero, published by the grandson in
1582. in 10 volumes folio. This edition is remarkable for containing a dedication

* I deserve both correction and censure for not having glanced upon the
pages of Unger, in his Life of the Elder Aldus, descriptive of the society or club,
formed by Manutius's father, for the consolidation and effectual direction of lite-
rary schemes and publications. This society used to meet at the elder Aldus's
house ; and instead of gay dinners, and bacchanalian revels, ' in commune consul-
tabant, de libris, grsecis, lathiisethetruscis conferendis, emendandis et illustraudis,
quos ipse [Aldus] formulis edere suis, cogitabat,' p. xxiii.

t See page 222.

,218

SIXTH DAY.

taste of Maniitius, for that limited and elegantly-executed
series of volumes which came forth under the imprint of The

(prefixed to the Paradoxes) to the ' Admirable Crichton and ' Memoirs of
the Life' of that extraordinary Character (within a few months after his death)
are prefixed to the Offices. Aldus, the grandson, was the author of both these
interesting documents. It is from the frontispiece of this very edition, executed
\ipou copper, that the following head of Manutius (upon wood) is now presented
to the reader.

I cannot however help thinking that I have seen a wood-cut portrait of
Manutius of nearly the same dimensions as the head published by Krause.
A word now respecting the Devices used by Paul Manutius. M. Renouard's
no. 2, the device usually seen, is thought to be a mere improvement of the
old one ; as it is of about the same dimensions. But upon his separation from
the Torresani in 1540, and commencing business on his own account, and on that
of his brothers, Manutius adopted a new device, of which tlie following fac-simile
is humbly hoped to compete successfully with the no. 3. of M. Renouard.

SIXTH DAY

219

Venetian Academy. \ Seize upon these tomes, dear Lisardo,
when fair copies of them present themselves to your notice —

This device, according to Renouard, was dropt by Manutius about the year
1555 ; when he commenced business entirely on his own account. He then
* disported* himself (as is aforesaid) with his first improvement of his father's
bizarre representation — or with the no 2. of M. Renouard — of larger dimen-
sions, however, and surrounded by a border, sometimes in the manner of
arabesque — as appears in the no. 4. of M. Renouard — and sometimes composed
of fruits and flowers, of which here foUoweth a fac-simile.

But Manutius had yet a variety, which has not been noticed by M. Renouard.
He would occasionally put a sort of winged gill to his dolphin ; thereby giving it

t See page 222.

220

SIXTH DAY.

for Renouard tells us (if I recollect) that they are * of a
perfect execution, and rare, and sought after with avidity
by amateurs of well-printed books in the xvith century.'

It is now time, however, that we touch upon the younger
of the Aldine Family, and the last of that name. Aldus
Manutius, the Grandson of the first Aldus, commenced
his career in a manner equally honourable to himself, and
gratifying to his parent, Paul Manutius, His juvenile per-
formances betray so much taste and acumen that it has been
questioned whether he could have been the author of them.
Nevertheless we must own that it seems hard, after the
testimonies of contemporaries, and the suffrages of later

the air of a little dragon or monster of the deep. For thus, curious reader, this said
dolphin appears in the frontispiece of the ' Commentarius Pauli Manutii In
Epistolas Cicermis ad Atticum, mblxiix.' 8vo.

Perhaps this is the place to make mention of the Imitations of the Aldine Anchor
in a nmnber of publications about the middle, and towards the end, of the xvith
century. M. Renouard, however, has left little to be gleaned after the notices
which appear by him in vol. ii. p. 64-6. Yet among the numerous imitations of
this device, by the Pans pi.nters, that skilful bibliographer has omitted to men-
tion the very elegant representation which appears in the frontispiece of the first
four books of the Annals of Tacitus, published and sold at Paris, in 1581, folio,

SIXTH DAY.

221

critics, to question their legitimacy. As a Printer, strictly
speaking, his celebrity will never approach that of his Father
or Grandfather :* but as an elegant scholar he may bear no
mean comparison with either. Perhaps he had more taste
than learning ; and more love of popularity, in what may
be called its captivating but perishable sense, than seems to
have attached to either his Parent or his Ancestor. None,

with this imprint : ' Parisiis apud Robertum Colombellum in via ad D. loannem
Lateranensem in Aldina Bibliotheca.

This however may possibly be considered rather a genuine Aldine performance.
Of the arms granted to Manutius by the Emperor Maximilian, which was an
eagle surmounting his device, with a helmet for crest, we will discourse heresifter.
Meanwhile, let it be only further observed that this dolpliin and anchor are

* See the note at p. 226.

222 SIXTH DAY.

who bear his name, ever received such flattering marks of
respect; and he surely must be somewhat more than mortal
who does not suffer his phlegm to be disturbed by such

claimed by Claude Paradin, in liis Symhola Heroica, p. 274, edit. 1567, as the
symbol of the Emperor Vespasian — with the well known motto of Festina
Lente, Paradin has thus represented it.

t Antiquities of the cities of Venice and fio/ne.] It should seem from the
Chronological Synopsis of Manutius's Life, by Krause, p. xxxiii. that about the
year 1547, our printer, moved by the entreaties, and assisted by the researches,
of Bembo and Maffeio, meditated a work upon the Antiquities of Rome, which
appeared after his death at Rome, in 1585, 4to. See Renouard, vol. ii. p. 105.
Of those of Venice, I know not why Lysander should indulge the supposition
that any memoranda were collected. Foscarini however informs us, in his
Letteratura Veneziana, p. 380, note 131, that whatever collections Manutius made,
and to which he himself alludes in about the year 1569, (' Quse aliquando, si
\ita, valetudo, et otium suppetet, ex nostris Antiquarum Inscriptionum libris
cognoscentur') were transcribed and published by G. B. Doni, in his Raccolta,
1731.

t The Venetian Academy.'] ' Cette Academic, d6truite peu d'ann6es apres sa
fondation, avoit de vastes projets litteraires, a en juger par les deux Catalogues
qu'elle a publi^e, des 6ditions qu'elle se proposoit de faire ex^cuter successivement
et a ses frais.' Renouard, vol. i. p. 311. Badoaro, a Venetian senator, was the
founder of it, about the year 1556. The members of this Academy were to meet
in his own house ; ' but the plan of it (continues Renouard) was so vast, that
however it might have been conceived and carried into effect by one individual,
it required the power and the resources of a monarch to render it permanent^' vol. ii.

SIXTH DAY.

223

high and numerous testimonies of admiration and respect.
There seems to have been almost a scuffle between the
learned at Pisa and Rome who first should secure him as

p. 86. In his third, or supplemental volume, M. Renouard gives a completer list
of these Academic publications than in his first. The following is rather a concise
abridgement from this enlarged and amended list.

Books Printed in the Venetian Academy.

1. Somma delle Opere, <^c. 1558, folio, 31 leaves not numbered, and one blank

leaf, 400 copies printed.

2. Summa Librorum, <^c. 1559, 4to. 39 leaves, numbered, followed by 1 blank

leaf ; and preceded by 4 leaves containing the title and preface in the
name of the Academy, addressed to the Venetian nobility : very curious,
12 copies upon large paper.

3. Indice Volgare, small folio, 2 leaves, 300 copies pi'inted.

4. Indice Piccolo Latino.

5. Indice de' Libri mandati a Francfort. The title of this latter is given at full

length by Foscarini. Only few copies printed. Apparently unseen by
Renouard.

6. Be Dei Locvtione M. A. Natt^ Oratio, ^c. 1559, 4to. 825 copies, with a

preface of 4 pages by Paul Manutius.

7. H. Bvtigell(B Pap. Eq. Commentaria, <^c. 1559, folio, 1100 copies, 76 double-

column leaves, and a blank leaf ; next, 17 leaves of table, and a blank
leaf; 2 leaves of title and preface precede. Exceeduigly rare and almost
unknown. Rarity arising from the want of interest of the publication.

8. Historia, <^c. nel regno d' Inghiltora, 1558, 8vo." 1100 copies. Reno\iard

calls this a rare volume, notwithstanding the number of copies which were
printed. I have seen five copies of it. There are 60 leaves, numbei'ed from
9 to 68 ; 3 leaves at the beginning, and a blank leaf. This is a book in
every respect worth a place upon the Aldine shelves.

9. Pauli Manulii Epistolte, 1558, 8vo. 12 leaves at the commencement ; 143

leaves, numbered from 6 to 148. First edition; and presumed the most
correct. Manutius shelters himself under the imputation of vanity in
being the editor of liis own letters, by informing us that they were published
at the express desire of the ' Academy.' Let no lover of the memory of
the Alduses suffer this volume to escape him ; and if he meet with a copy
upon LARGE paper, let such copy receive a Grolier-fashion binding
under the direction of one Charles Lewis !

10. De Legato Pontificio, 1558, 4to. 825 copies ; 4 leaves for title and preface ;

19 leaves of text, numbered as if they were 20 ; because the 3rd leaf is
incorrectly numbered 4 : last, a blank leaf with the date.

11. Ordine de Cavalieri del Tosone, 1558, 4to. 825 copies ; 1 leaf for title : 2 for

preface, and 1 blank j then the work upon 18 numbered leaves.

224

SIXTH DAY.

their Professor of Belles-Lettres ; and the chair of the pro-
fessorship, at the latter place, was absolutely Tcept vacant,
while he was Professor at the former, with the hope that he

Books Printed in the Venetian Academy,

12. De Mlseria Humana, ^c. 1558, 4to. 825 copies ; 1 leaf for title, and 2 leaves

for ]ireface, followed by a blank leaf ; then 64 leaves of text.

13. Syriani Antiq. Interpret, in Aristot. Libr. Metaph. Comment. 1558, 4to. 1100

copies ; 3 leaves of title and preface (very curious) and 1 blank ; followed
by 123 leaves, of which the last is inaccurately numbered 132.

14. Progne Tragoedia, nvnc primvm edita, 1558, 4to. 825 copies ; 6 leaves, con-

taining title, preface, argument, and list of the ' Dramatis Personae;' 27"
leaves of text, and 1 blank.

15. Biscm-so intorno, S(C. delta guerra, ^c. Orat. delta pace, 1558 ,4to. 1250 copies ;

title, 2 leaves of preface, and a blank leaf : the warlike text occupies 28
numbered leaves — and the peaceful part of the volume contains 22 leaves,
numbered.

16. I Diece Circoli deW Imperio, <^c. 1558, 4to. 3 leaves, containing title and

preface, followed by a blank leaf; then 39 leaves, with a blank one at
the end.

17. Le Institvtionidelt' Imperio contenvte nelta Botlo doro, ^c. 1559, 4to. 4 leaves

at the beginning, of which the last is blank ; then 55 leaves numbered,
with 1 blank leaf. The leaves 9, 10, 11, 12, are omitted to be numbered,
and those from 45 to 48 are twice enumerated. This work has two dates ;
eitlier 1558 or 1559 ; the former of which is atways at the end. This, and
the two preceding pieces, are very rare in the estimation of Monsieur
Renouard.

(18. Discorsi del Veniero eopra V Etica; possibly a supposititious publication.)

19. Exptanatio Libr. I. Phys. Aristot. 1558, folio, 825 copies ; 3 leaves at the

begiiuiing, with the 4th blank; then 134 leaves.

20. Nova Explicatio Topicor. Aristot 1559, folio, 1100 copies ; 2 leaves, contain-

ing a title and a preface ; then 129 leaves. This is a well-printed book,
and among the scarcest of the Latin Commentators upon Aristotle.

21. Federici Detphini. 4-c. Be Flvxv ^ Reftvxv jEqv<B Maris, 4^c. Bispvtatio,

1559. folio, with 12 large wood-cuts of diagrams, 1100 copies; 4 leaves
at tlie beginning, the last blank; then 30 leaves. A rare and well
printed book.

22. Flavii Alexn, d^c Be Max. Ital. atque Grec. Calam. 1559, 4to. 825 copies ;

3 leaves (ontaining title and preface, the 4th blank; then 74 leaves,
followed by 2 others, of which the first contains the errata and the second
the imprint. Exclusively of what its title conveys, this volume contains
six other opuscula. Renouard, vol. iii. p. 74, is particular upon this article.

SIXTH DAY.

325

would speedily come to fill it. The entreaties of his friend
Roccha, and perhaps the splendid remuneration supposed to
be contained in the command of Pope Sixtus V. at length
induced him to settle at Rome ; where he had scarcely exer-

BooKs Printed in the Venetian Academy.
T3. Orationes Clarorum Virorum, <^c. 1559, 4to. 1100 copies; 7 leaves, with
title, preface, and table, at the beginning; the 8th blank; then, 176
leaves, of which the 59th and 60th are also blank. A very rare volume ;
containing a preface developing the plans of the Academy.

24. Sacra ^ Recens Psalmonm, ^c. Interpretutio, 1559, 4to. 1125 copies ; the

first 4 leaves comprehend the title and preface ; then 335 leaves, and a
blank one. Rare.

25. Alciati In sec. Infortiati -partem Comment. 1559, folio, 1100 copies ; 4 leaves,

with title and preface, the 4th having the errata : text, 151 numbered
leaves. Printed by Nicolo Bivilaqua at 62 livres (of Venice) for the
paper and printing of each sheet. The ' Orationes,' &c. (no. 23) was also
printed by him ; but at the cost of 68 Venetian livres per sheet : ' Je cite
(adds Renouard) ces deux prix seulement pour donner une id6e de ce que
coutoit alors la fabrication des livres.'

26. Dvo—Poemata: Curtius, et de Raptu Helena, 1559, 4to. 3 leaves, with title

and preface, a 4th blank ; 24 leaves of text.

27. De Montium Origine, ^c. 1561, 4to. 3 leaves for title and preface ; the text,

16 leaves numbered.

What remains, in Renouard, is descriptive only of Letters, Acts, Privileges,
Instruments, &c : necessary, unquestionably, to a complete series of the publica-
tions of the Venetian Academy ; but, of themselves, insignificant, fugitive, and
rarely of any general literary importance. They are therefore here omitted ; as
their introduction would have greatly extended this note, already swoln to a most
unconscionable size. The pieces however, here noticed, are double the number
of those which appear in the first account of them by Renouard. A word or two,
next, respecting their typographical execution. M. Renouard, vol. ill. p. 73, has
a better opinion of their beauty than I am disposed to entertain. In general, the
paper is of too sombre a tmt and too slender a texture. The lines are also, fre-
quently, not sufficiently widely spaced. As to the intrinsic worth of them, it may
be questioned whether, even collectively, they are equal to one of the well edited
Greek, or Latin, or Italian Classics, by the elder Aldus or Paul Manutius.

In the last place, as to the Device or Figure of Fame — used as the frontispiece-
cmbellisliment in these Academic publications. Mr. Renouard, vol. iii. p. 68,
75, notices some varieties of them. I think I have seen at least three of these
varieties; and a fourth may be mentioned as attached to the last article,
(no. 27.) inasmuch as it is cut upon wood : all the others being printed from
copper. The usual device is, I apprehend, the one of which the reader is here

226 SIXTH DAY.

cised his talents, as printer and editor, ten years, when he died,
in 1597, and in the fifty-first year of his age : . . a dissohi-

presented with a fac-simile, taken from the work described under no. 15. of the
preceding list. It is perhaps equal to either of its companions; yet a more
graceful figure might liave been selected to grace the productions of such a ' body

Sometimes, as in the frontispiece of no. it, there is a flowered or elaborated
boi-der, with a human countenance at top and at bottom. Again, there is a
wreath-like ornament placed more closely round the figure. The above repre-
sentation is faithfully executed ; and as no fac-simile of it has been given by
Renouard, it is presumed to be an appropriate decoration in its present place.

* as a printer , . . his celebrity -voill never approach that of his father or grand-
fatJier.'] Monsieur Renouard, in his very amusing Annales de rimprimerie des
Aide, vol. ii. p. 131, has, I think, shewn some good reasons, why, generally
speaking, the younger Aldus could not have attained equal celebrity— and,
chiefly, because ' there was not so much to do.' The fields of literature had been
occupied, explored, sown, cultivated, and an abundant harvest gleaned therefrom,
previous to the direction of the press by the grandson of the famous Aldus : and
perhaps all, or nearly all, that remahied to be done, was, to publish corrected
editions of the works which his father or grandfather had put forth. ' Brief let
me be' in the birth, parentage, and education of this eminent grandson. He was
born in February 154<7, and gave extraordinary proofs of precocity of talent by
publishing his ' Eleganze della lingua toscana e latina,' in Ms eleventh year. The

SIXTH DAY.

227

tion, which was considered as premature as it was regretted
by the whole literary republic. In his death, both the name

success of this publication was not less extraordinary ; but I agree with Mr.
Renouard in thinking that ' wiser heads' than that of the younger Aldus, had a
share in this publication. Yet his ' OrthographicB Ratio,' published in 1561, when
he was only 14 years of age, (a work which enjoyed an equal reputation) seems
to disarm scepticism respecting the early attainments of the younger Aldus. In
1562 lie accompanied his father to Rome ; visited, with him, the libraries, and
architectural antiquities, copied inscriptions, and betrayed an eagerness and love
of virtu, which, to speak fairly, does not appear to have ' grown with his growth
and strengthened with his strength.' His ' De Veterum Notamm explanatime;
published in 1566, and when he was warm in his passion for antiquities, is yet
however a performance which even ' the approved' may consult to advantage.
In 1572 he married into the Giunti Family, by espousing Frances Lucretia,
the daughter, 1 presume, of Bernard or Thomas Giunta. In 1574 he lost his
father, and became the sole conductor of his press ■ and from this time he almost
wholly abandoned the simple dolphin and anchor, as given by his progenitors,
and assumed the arms which Maximilian had granted to his father, thus :

VOL. II.

228

SIXTH DAY.

and the press of Aldus ceased to exist : a name, and a press,
which had benefited not only Italy, but Europe, for a full
' centenary of years' — as our older writers term it.

The fac-siiuile of these arms, as given by M. Renouard, vol. ii. p. 62, no. 5,
is considerably smaller ; and, with due submission be it added, is less faithfully
and spiritedly executed. The reader however must not suppose that the grandson
shewed such little respect to the memory of his grandfather, as to discard,
altogether, the device which the latter had selected— for ' see here,' what a
specimen may be adduced of the extravagance of his regard for it ! 'Tis the ' ne
plus ultra' of boldness and effect— a very sheet anchor for a three-decker !

SIXTH DAY.

229

I must indeed be very brief in noticing the Sess^, the
GiOLiTi, and the Sabii : doing little more than arranging,
in order of battle, as it were, the respective devices of these

About the year 1576, and in the thirtieth of his age, he was called to the
chair of the Professorship of Belles-Lettres ; and in 1578, upon the spur of the
occasion, he composed a funeral oration for an ambassador of the Duke of
Savoy, • in less than three hours,' which he aftenvards pronounced and published
In 1582 he made a short journey to Milan, where Cardinal Borromeo gave
him a gracious reception, and probably shewed him a great portion of that well
known collection of Romances and Novels, of which a descendant, of the same
name, published a Catalogue in 1794— and which said collection itself is, at this
moment, about to take a (somewhat longer) 'journey' to the metropolis of our own
empire : there to be disposed of, as may seem ' most meet and profitable' to the
worthy bibliopolistic firm ycleped Payne and Foss. From Milan, Aldus passed
on to Ferrara ; where, Goselini tells us, he had an interview with the famous
Tasso, at that time in the most deplorable condition. About the same period came
forth, what some may think, the ' magnum opus' of his press; namely, the
E7itire Works of Cicero — which however had been separately and successively
printed from 1578, inclusively, with the exception of the philosophical and
oratorical works. A new title page was put to each of the previous publications,
and that of the first volume bears date mdi,xxxii. The wood cut, just presented
to the reader, was taken from the frontispiece of this volume. It is surrounded
by a border of considerable taste. To the right of the same frontispiece, quite at
top, and facing the portrait of his father (as given at page 218, ante) is the
following resemblance of the younger Aldus himself, as publisher of the work :
premising, that the originals of both are upon copper.

[aldvsivn-

Surely, if this be correct, the portrait given by M. Renouard, at vol. ii.
p. 154, must be incorrect. Indeed, the close resemblance of that portrait to the
one forming the frontispiece to M. Renouard's second volume, proves loth to be
Paul Manutius. In 1584, Aldus put forth, for the instruction of the noble youth
who attended his lectures, his 7/ Perf 'etta Gentilhuomo. Consult M. Renouard's
iiird vol. p. 40. In 1585, he took leave of his press at Venice, by publishing a

230

SIXTH DAY.

printers. And first of the Sess^ : the eldest of whom, as
I apprehend, was John Baptista. His Cat and Mouse

collection called Locutione di Terentio, as he was supposed to have bestowed
unusual care and attention upon the writings of that great Roman Dramatist. In
1586, he established himself at Bologna; and the second work which he printed
there (the first being a commentary upon the ode of Horace in favour of a
rustic hfe, in 1586, 4to.) was La Vita di Cosimo de' Medici : a work, which hath
received the warm commendations of two competent critics, Apostolo Zeno and
Mr. Roscoe. Now commenced the contest, above mentioned by Lysander,
between Pisa and Rome, to secure our Aldus as Professor of Belles Lettres, at
one of these respective places : but Pisa received him first, in 1587, when he was
made Doctor ' in utroque jure.' Meanwhile the chair was kept vacant for him
at Rome ; and overpowered by the entreaties of his intimate friend Roccha, and
perhaps more so by those of Pope Sixtus V., the following year, or in 1589,
he took himself thither — and transported, to the same place, his immense
Library which had been chiefly collected by his father and grandfather. M.
Renouard subjoins an interesting note from G. V. de Rossi upon this point, but
I shall take the liberty of appending a sub-note, of not less interest, from Angelus
Roccha — in which the value and number of this library are particularly men-
tioned, (a number, scarcely to be credited — 80,000 volumes !) and wherein the
praises of the Aldine family are cordially ' sung forth.'*

* Nec silentio praitereunda videtur Manutiana ilia Bibliotheca, mira librorum
copia, & varietate, codicibus scilicet non solum impressis, sed manuscriptis etlam
vetustissimis, autographisque refertissima, quam ipsemet Aldus iunior, vir sane
doctus, turn de bonis, ac politioribus litteris, turn etiam de litteratis viris, bona-
rumque artium cultoribus optime meritus, suis sumptibus, Principum tamen
liberalitate adiutus, instituit, auxit, atque Romam aduexit : cum enim ipse primum
Romse cum Paulo Patre viueret, eam struere coepit, postmodum Venetias
profectus a Senata Veneto in secretariorum numerum allectus, & praecipua
humaniorura litterarum, vt dicitur, lectura insignitus, aliquot ibi vixit annos,
donee Bononiam accersitus praecipuum in ea ciuitate locum tenuit : inde Pisas a
Francisco Medice Hetruriae duce ad Latinam, & Graecam linguam de superiori
loco docendam vocatus, ibique iuris ciuilis, & canonici laurea decoratus.
Romam tandem Sixti V. auspicljs petens, minore potitur statu, si prsesentem
spectemus : maiore, si eius merita, si Romanam ciuitatem, si, quod deuique
caput est, Pontificiam, & mdeficientem Sixti V. beneficientiam perpendamus :
nulla enim alia res, vt opinor, hominem ipsum potuisset adducere, vt vel
animo cogitasset, vel vt perficeret quod certe perfecit ; octuaginta enim librorum
sahnas, & supea octuaginta voluminum millui, in quibus multa extant,
quae admodum singularia sunt, Romam deferendas curauit : quibus in itineribus
ad duo fere aureorum millia insumpsit, animo sane supra vires priuatas ; hac
fortasse spe ductus, vt tandem aliquando ab ijs, qui de litteratis viris bene
raereri solent, ac debent, aiiqua sibi ex parte resarcitum iri putaret, etiam si
ipse nonnisi bonum, ornamentumque publicum spectet, Aldum Auum, & Paulum
Patrem non solum imitatus, sed quodam etiam modo superans : quorum 'omnium
Aedes vbique locorum, vt optime noui, litteratis & probis hominibus semper
patuerunt : ex quibus item tamquam ex equo Troiano viri praecipui. Card. Hiero-
nyraus Aleander Molensis, Card. Rodulplus Pius Carpensis, a cuius Familia

SIXTH DAY.

231

first began to make their appearance about the beginning of
the sixteenth century, * thus :

Among the first works pubJished by him at Rome, was an account of one of the
Antelminelli Family, in 1590, 4to.— ' Le Azioni di Castruccio Castracane degli
Antelrainelli,' &c. — a book, mentioned witli eulogy by De Thou, of great rarity
in his own time, and now so scarce as to have escaped the researches of Monsr.
Renouard. Although this work have been long highly prized by the Italians, it
has absolutely never been reprinted. See Annates, <^e. vol. ii. p. 127 ; vol. iii.
p. 41. In 1590, Aldus lost his munificent patron Sixtus V. j and seems to have
fared but indifferently under the pontificate of his successor, Clement VIII. He
became now the coadjutor of D. Basa, and joint director of the famous Vatican
Press, See Baillet, Jugemens des Savans, vol. i. pt ii. p. 10, p. 86, edit. 1725,
The Latin Vulgate Bibles of 1590 and 1592 are proud monuments of the splendor
of this press ; and copies of these volumes upon large paper are fondly and
deservedly cherished by the curious. In 1592, Aldus put forth, among the last
of his more valuable labours, his Ltttere Volgari, presso il Santi e compagni, in
4to. a work warmly commended by Zeno. The latter five years of his direction
of the Pontifical Press are scarcely distinguished by one valuable or original
production : whether he was occupied by his lectures, or by the cares of his situa-
tion. He died on the 28th October, 1597, after he had lived 50 years, 8 months,

Aldus Senior in earn adoptatus Pij nomen accepit, Episcopi permulti, & alij
innumeri: A Paulo M. Antonius Mvu-etus multoruni instar, & alij, quos
longum esset recensere, prodiere. De his omnibus, tribus scilicet Manutianis,
qui nonnisi iuuandae Reipublicae christians diligentem nauarunt operam, memini
me aliquando lusisse hunc in modum :

Aldus Manutius Senior Mmitura latina,

Graecaq. restituit Mortuafcrme typis.

Paulus restituit cdamo Monumenta Quintum

Vtq. Alter Cicero Sanpta diserta dedit.

Aldus dum iuuenismiratur Auumq. Patremq.

Filius atque Nepos, est Anus atque Pater.

De Bibl, Vaticana, p. 402, 1591, 4to.

* See over leeif.

232

^ SIXTH DAY.

After John Baptista, a son (as I suspect) of the name of
Melchioe Sessa, succeeded; who unquestionably gave a
somewhat better expression to this unfortunate mouse, wor-
ried in the jaws of the cat. You have here two specimens
of his improved device ;* although I cannot say much in
commendation of either.

6nd 22 days ; and a report was prevalent that his dissolution was sudden — per
trappa crapula — in consequence of high or irregular living : which indeed may
account for the poverty and paucity of his later publications. A word now con-
cerning this said ' immense library.' It should seem that Aldus died in bad
circumstances; and M. Renouard, apparently on the authority of the ms.
memoirs of Delfino, inclines to think that this library was divided between the
creditors and nephews of Aldus, after having been probably visited and ' dis-
mantled' of a certain number of precious articles, by order of the Pope. The same
memoirs, add that it was ' not to the university of Pisa that this library was
bequeathed by its owner : yet Jacob, in his Trakt^ des plus belles Bibliotheques,
p. 163, 1644, 8vo. expressly tells us that ' Pisa possesses a most noble public
library, and also boasts of incorporating in it the fine library of Aldus Manutius,
son of Paul, wliich, when at Rome, consisted of 80,000 volumes.' And Lomeier,
in his treatise De Bibliothecis, 1680, p. 271, remarks that this library was
bequeathed to the college at Pisa. His authority is Middend. lib. 4.

* about the beginning of the sixteenth century.'] The late lamented Bishop of
Ely used to say, ' whenever you see a book with a cat and mouse in the fron-
tispiece, seize upon it : for the chances are as three to four that it will be
found both curious and valuable.' Admonition from such a quarter is not to be
slightly rejected. Accordingly, I have brought forward this grand display of
grimalkin, sometimes passant, and sometimes quiescent, in the hope of alluring
the notice of those who possibly might have thought that such representations

SIXTH DAY

233

The Heirs of Melchior or Marchio Sessa exhibited how-
ever better specimens of this improved device, as you will
immediately perceive and acknowledge. I own that the last
of the three ensuing ones f is conceived and executed in a

were by no means the prelude to an intellectual entertainment. Puss, reposing
upon a rug, or galloping across a barn-floor, has its appropriate accompaniment :
but sitting or standing in the frontisinece of a book — who would have tliought to
find her with such a welcome appendage ? I know not the exact date of the
earliest appearance of the above specimens ; but the one, first given in the text,
was taken from an edition of Cicero's Partitiones Orator'ue, and Orator ad Brutum,
of the date of 1505, in 8vo, black letter, by the printer above mentioned. From
a copy in the collection of Earl Spencer.

* two specimens of this improved device.^ The first of these ' improved speci-
mens ' is of the date of 1539, and is from a volume printed by 'lohannes Antonius
de Nkolinis de Sabio, at the costs of Melchior Sessa and the second is taken
from Le Tre Fontane de Nicolo Liburnio, printed by Melchior himself, of the
date of 1534. It occurs at the end of the volume.

t the last of the ensuing ones.'] The frst of them, however, which is very neatly
executed, is rather of uncommon occurrence ; and is of the date of 1570, if not
earlier — 'Appresso gU heredi di Melchior Sessa.' Both the second and the ' third '

231 SIXTH DAY.

completely spirited and successful manner. Judge, however,
for yourselves.

are taken from the same volume ; namely ' L'Opere di Virgilio,&c. Commentate
in Lingua Volgare Toscana, da Giovanni Fabrini da Fighine, da Carlo Malatesta
da Eimcne, et da Filippo Venuti da Cortona, &c. &c. Nuovamente Ornate di

SIXTH DA^.

235

There are yet, perhaps, several varieties, with which the
port-foho of our host does not appear to furnish us. I
come now, by way of concluding with eclat, to exhibit
a magnificent specimen of this favourite grimalkin,* sitting
enthroned, as Philemon termed it the other day, like an
Eastern monarch upon his gorgeous footstool. 'Tis justly,
as well as emphatically termed, the Great Cat of the Sessae
family ; and was used by Giovanni Baptista Marchio
Sessa, and his brothers: descendants, unquestionably, of
the same Melchior whose specimens were brought forward as
the second and third in order, and condemned apparently
by general consent, Giovanni, it must be confessed, had

Vaghe et bellissime Figure. In Venetia, m.d.lxxxviii. Appresso gli Heredi di
Marchio Sessa. Folio. This is rather a handsome folio volume ; and the second
of the three consecutive specimens, above adduced by Lysander, is found at the
top of the proheme following the title-page : the ' third ' occurs in the frontis-
piece. A yet different, but much inferior, representation of the Sessse Cat and
Mouse, is found at the end of the book ; evidently executed by a very subordi-
nate artist.

* a magnificent specimen of this favounte Grimalkin'] See vol. i. p. 289, &c.
for an account of the famous folio Dante, of 1577, from the end of which the
above ' magnificent specimen ' is taken. This impression was executed ' Appresso
gli H«j^di di Francesco Rampazetto. Ad instantia di Giouambatista Marchio Sessa,
et Fratelli ; and is the same, I take it, as the one noticed by the worthy Pierre
Antoine Crevenna, in the 4th volume, p. 8, of his own catalogue of his books.
Tlie same eminent collector further remarks, at page 9, that the Sessse had pub-
lished a previous edition in 1564, and a subsequent one in 1596 ; the latter of
which was condemned, in an ' Index Expurgatorius,' for containing some free
passages from the commentary of Landino. ' M. de Bure nous apprend (adds
Crevenna) que ces trois Editions, qui sont 6galement bonnes, sont connues en
France sous le nom des Editions du Chat a cause que la devise des Sessa porte
un Chat. Les Volpi, de qui cet exemplaire [ed. 1578] nous est pass6, dans le cata-
logue de leur bibliotheque marquent qu'en Italic ces editions sont rulgairenient
appellees au grand nez, allusivement au portrait de Dante bien pourvu de nez,
qu'elles ont sur le frontispice.' May I take the liberty of asking, whether there
exist any portrait of Dante which is not ' bien pourvu de nez?* Note,
however, in conclusion : that the Cat is not always the device of the Sessse : for
in the ' Primaleone Figlivolo di Palmermo Di m. Lodovico Dolce Appresso Gio
Batista e Marchio Sessa, Fratelli, 1562,' 4to. a rampant Pegasus is at the end, as
the device of the printer.

236 SIXTH DAY.

truer principles of taste. Acknowledge that Puss here as-
sumes quite an imperial air !

This specimen carries the family of the Sessas towards
the close of the sixteenth century. We are now to touch
upon the Sabii; a race of printers who appear to have
oftentimes worked for the Sessae,* and whose productions,

* the Sabii, a race of printers who appear to have oftentimes worked for the
Sessee,"] It should seem, from the Museum Criticum, vol. i. p. 228, that I have
been inaccurate or obscure in one of the christian names of these Sabii, in my
Introd. to the Classics, It remains therefore to rectify an error; possibly of not
much moment where it occurs in the work just referred to. Yet I know not why
the abbreviation ' Nicol. de Sabio ' (in vol. i. p. 377) should be construed into
* Nicolas ' — when, in a note, in the same page, the appellative ' Nicolinus de
Sabio,' (from the Pinelli classed catalogue) is expressly given? The christian
names of these printers, as mentioned by Maittaire in his Annal. Typng. vol. ii.
p. 391, (and the Index, vol. ii. p. 219) from which Mr. Beloe may have probably
tak(;n them, are, ' Joannes Antonim et Fratres : Stephanus, et Fratres ; Stephanus

SIXTH DAY.

237

especially in the Greek language, may be classed among
the rarer books. I regret that Maittaire has not indulged
us with a more particular account of them ; yet Mr. Beloe,

Nicolinus : Joannes Antonius de Nicolinis. There were, however (as the autho-
rity jirst quoted clearly proves) a ' Pietro,' and a ' Giovanne Maria,' — so that the
family or firms, under the ' da Sabio,' or ' di Sabio' name, appear to have been
numerous. They carried on their business at Venice, Verona, and Rome —
according to Maittaire. The device given at p. 239, is taken from a volume
printed at Venice in 1522, 8vo. ' per lodnem Antoniu et fratres, de Sabio.' Tt is
entitled ' Franciscus Lucius Durantinus de optima ReipublicfB Gubernatione.

Mr. Beloe (as Lysander properly intimates) has ' somewhat supplied the
deficiencies of Maittaire ' in an account of a few Greek publications which issued
from the presses of the Sabii : see Anecdotes of Literature, &c, vol. v. p. 169-
175. To this list may be added a description of an edition of the Iliad of Homer
in 1526, of the Works of Homer in 1551, and of a Greek Testament in 1538 —
which appear in the first volume of the Introd. to the Classics. These latter
descriptions, it is true, might have been more extended ; but they had preceded
the publication of Mr. Beloe. At vol. i. p. 378, note i, of the Introd, &c. brief
mention is made of an edition of tlie works of Homer, by Nicolino de Sabio, of
the date of 1 547, as having been in the Harleian collection— and as being of a
' doubtful existence.' The richly-furnished library of Mr. Grenville has supplied
me with a copy of this very date, which had belonged to Professor Porson, and
which therefore dissipates all doubt upon the subject. It is in 2 volumes, 8vo.
in Greek, with a Life of the Bard. At the end is tliis imprint — another proof of
the existence of the abovementioaed ' Peter — * Venetjjs apud Petriim de Nicolinis
de Sabio, sumptu Melchioris Sessae mdxlvii — with the Cat and Mouse (the second
or third specimen^ — at this moment I cannot recollect) at the end ; and which
always occurs when the work was printed ' at the costs and charges ' (to borrow
an old technical phrase) of the Sessas — so that when the learned correspondent,
in tlie Museum Criticum, vol. i. p. 229, described the device of the Sabii as a
♦ cat passant,' he was probably not aware that such.' cat' was the exclusive pro-
perty of Melchior Sessa ; and that the ' dragon-guarded cauliflower,' (to borrow
the facetious expression of the Lady Almansa) was the legitimate device of the
Sabii. Note further : a copy of the Greek Anthology, in 8vo. executed by Peter
and Giovanni Nicolini di Sabio, and of which the authority first quoted never
saw ' more than one copy,' is also mentioned by Mr. Beloe — as being without
date • and not noticed by Boni.' Possibly the same copy (in the collection of the
late Bishop of Ely) supplied each of these notices.

The Museum Criticum, however, as just referred to, supplies us with a piece
of curious and interesting intelligence respecting two Greek volumes which appear
unquestionably to have been executed in the press of those shy printers of whom
we are now discoursing. These • volumes,' classical reader,' are ' nothuig more

238

SIXTH DAY.

it must be admitted, has somewhat suppHed the deficiencies
of the first-named bibliographer. It should seem that there
were several firms of these Sabii ; or, at any rate, that the

or less ' than those prodigiously rare books — the JEsckylus of Robortellus,of 1552,
and the Callimachus of 1555, printed at Venice, without name of editor — but, in
all probability, on the authority just quoted, the edition o{ Rohortellus also! The
excessive rarity and intrinsic worth of both these books, and especially of the
latter, are here sufficiently noticed. The latter, indeed, (once in the collection of
the late Bishop of Ely, and now in that of the Duke of Devonshire) has been
carefully consulted in the recent edition of Callimachus by Mr. Blorafield ■ and
when we consider that the letter B (the signature of the correspondent who gives
us the information just mentioned) is the first of that of Blomfield — and that the
editor of this recent impression seems to have ' handled most dexterously' the very
rare text of Callimachus of which we are speaking, it may possibly only require
the simplicity of Davus, and not the sagacity of CEdipus, to prove that the afore-
said ' Correspondent,' and the Editor of the ' recent edition,' are one and the
same person ! Let me conclude this gossiping about solving unsphinx-like riddles
by submitting a device of one of the Sabii, which, if I remember rightly, was
taken from a folio Greek volume of a portion of St. Chrysostom's works, belong-
ing to Lord Spencer — but in such deplorable condition, from a submarine soaking,
as to be scarcely tangible— much less readable. It appears at the end of the
volume.

I have however seen a device, of Nicolino di Sabio, of a figure of Charity,
with a child in its arms, and another at its back. To the best of my remem-
brance it was in a quarto volume of Commentaries upon some parts of the
Works of Cicero in 1551 : and rather elegantly executed. This may be also a
' legitimate' device, as well as the Fox just given ; although of the latter I would
wish to be undertood as speaking hesitatingly.

SIXTH DAY.

239

family was a numerous one : yet their only legitimate and
acknowledged device, as far as I have been able to discover,
is a sort of cabbage or Cauliflower ; the fruit of which, in
imitation of that of the garden of Hesperides, appears to be
guarded by a Dragon. You have here a faithfully-executed
fac-simile of this extraordinary device.

I pass on now, necessarily in a rapid manner, to the
notice of the celebrated Gioliti ;* or rather to that of the

* notice of the celebrated Gioliti.] The ' notice ' of the Gioliti family, given
both above and below, is unluckily, but inevitably, superficial ; as I find no men-
tion whatever made of such family among those writers whom I expected would
Lave gratified us with a brief memoir or so. I own myself an arrant enthu-
siast in these Gioliti publications ; and, among them, of those which came from
the press of Gabriel. The name is spelt Giolito or Jolito : in Latin, lolitus.
On second thoughts, I am not sure whether I have ever seen a volume which was
executed by anjr other than Gabriel ; yet the inscription given at the bottom of
the third large specimen, above displayed by Lysander, evidently denotes a plura-
lity in the Gioliti firm. The ^rst of the above specimens is taken from the
Fiametta of Boccaccio, of 1542, 8vo.; printed by Gabriel : the second forms the

£40

SIXTH DAY.

mere devices used by these truly tasteful printers : whose
productions I entreat you to rank among the more desirable
of those of their cotemporaries— especially when relating to
Italian Literature. How often, Lisardo, have I caught you
in extacies before the out-spreaded wing of the Giolito-
Eagle — looking with dauntless gaze at the meridian Sun ? !

Lisardo. 'Tis true ; and I remember that both Belinda
and Almansa have shared in these extacies. I am at least
at liberty to confess the participation of them by the latter
of these book-loving dames,

Almansa. Admit at any rate that these Eagles are much
fitter objects of admiration than the Cats^ or even the dra-
gon-guarded Cauliflower, with which you have been pleased
to recreate us. Not that I wish to withhold my reverence
from every species of device used by skilful printers of
former times ! . .

Lisardo. This is the ' amende honorable,' my excellent
Almansa. See, see, Lysander's brow is smooth again. You
had sadly ruffled it in your oblique attack upon the device
of the Sabii. . . Proceed, great Monarch of the Day — ^for

greater portion of a frontispiece of an edition of Petrarch of 1545, 4to.j of which
such honourable mention has been made at vol. i. p. 288 : and from which so
beautiful a specimen of gi'aphic decoration has, in the sama place, been submitted
to the reader's particular attention. Gabriel Giolito sometimes used the charac-
ters of Bernardinus Stagninus — a small, close, round, and legible gothic
type — but capriciously distuiguished by an obtrusive gothic d. The Decameron
of Boccaccio, of 1542, small 12mo. is a specimen of this adaptation of the type
of Stagninus. The colophon runs thus : ' Stampato in Venetia a spese di Gabriel
lolito di Ferratij da Trim di Monteferrato, ^c. Caracteribus domini Bemardini
stagnini sibi accomodatis.' Lord Spencer possesses a beautiful copy (from
Mr. R. Triphook) of this scarce little volume, bound by C. Lewis in the most
appropriate and successful manner. The libraries of our old collectors teemed
with delightful Giolitos. That happy taste is about to revive, I trust, and to
become permanent. Let the curious remember that a red morocco copy of Gabriel
Giolito's edition of Boccaccio's Decameron, of 1546, 4to. produced 51. 6s. even in
Croft's time ! See Bibl. Crofts, no. 3981.

SIXTH DAY.

241

to such an epithet your extraordinary exertions for the last
tliree days richly entitle you ! . . And yet, can the reputation
of Lysander acquire the least additional lustre from the
eulogy of Lisardo ! ?

LrsANDEB. ' Cease your funning.' I am flattery-proof,
and rehsh not your * honied words.' But for the Giohti. To
enumerate their publications, or even the most material of
them, which adorned the annals of the Venetian press to-
wards the middle of the sixteenth century, would be a task
infinitely too weighty for the small portion of time allotted
for the remainder of this day's discussion. So take, in the
first place, the beautiful devices of Gabriel Giolito ;
perhaps the most distinguished of those who bore the name.
I should premise that the family came from Ferrara ; as
the bottom letter denotes, and as their colophons expressly
testify.

242

SIXTH DAY.

The second of these, about to be submitted to you,is, I
own, singularly beautiful, and perfectly worthy of throwing
a lady of taste into extacies ! It forms the central portion of
a prettily-composed frontispiece.

In the third and last place (premising that there are
several varieties of the first of the two preceding devices)
contemplate the Giolito-Banner, as it were : the device of
the Family of the Gioliti. I must not, however, conclude
this brief accoufit without mentioning that Vasari has borne
honourable testimony to the beauty of the wood-cuts intro-
duced by our favourite Gabriel into his editions of the
Orlando Furioso.

Farewell now to Venice ! Farewell to her numerous and
justly-popular typographical artists — lieroes I should have
said ! . . .

SIXTH DAY.

243

<^PVB lOLITOS. D JLXX IX .

Lorenzo. A moment, stay. Have you no other charac-
ter of typographical eminence to notice If I remember
rightly, the port-folio with which you have so long amused
us, contains some other elegantly-executed specimen of a

VOL. II. a

244

SIXTH DAY.

Venetian printer's device. Does not the name of Marcolini,

TOEBENTINO *

Lysander. 'Tis in vain to escape your sagacity. I will
be honest, and confess that these wights, not excepting even
Tramezzino, were to have been purposely omitted by me . .
For remember the Giunti . . and how can I tarry longer at
Venice, when, even now, I must ' prick my courser's sides '
lustily to enable me to pay a visit to Florence ! . .

LiSARDO. Not a word for Rome !?

Lysander. ' Go to,' my Lisardo : have you so soon for-
gotten the Vatican Press conducted by the younger Aldus
Hard is the fate of that man who shall essay to gratify the
tastes of all. I will positively, therefore, only look cursorily
over the few devices of Italian printers which remain, before
I touch upon those of the Giunti. Take, then, the first that
comes to hand. 'Tis Marcolini's but extremely elegant
I admit — and oftentimes of larger dimensions.

The Device of Marcolini.

* ToRRENTiNO.] There are few printers who have enjoyed a greater repu-
tation than Torrentino. His Pandecte Florentime, 1553, 2 vols, folio, is a mas-

SIXTH DAY.

245

Next follows the lovely Sibyl of Tramezzino : perhaps
among the most beautiful of the SibylHiie devices — very
common among the Venetian printers of this period.*

The Device of Tramezzino.

ter-piece of typographical achievement : nor is it held in less estimation by the
learned than by the curious. It is the original edition of Justinian's Pandects ;
the MS. of which was discovered by the printer himself at Florence. Charles V.
and Henry TI, of France rewarded Torrentino with numerous privileges, in con-
sequence of his acquirements and widely-extended reputation. All his books
may with propriety take ' leading situations' upon the shelves of the tasteful
collector.

t 'Tis Mmxolini's.'] Few devices are composed in a more graceful or attractive
manner than the opposite one of Marcolini. Mr. Singer properly commends its
'elegance' in his account of that rare, interestmg, and truly splendid folio
volume, entitled ' Le Sorti di Francesco Marcolini da Forli intitolate Giardino di
Fensieri; 1540. The wood cuts in this volume are numerous, beautiful, and
frequently of most admirable execution ; as the fac-simile given by Mr. Singer
{Researches into the History of Playing Cards, df-c. 1816, 4to. p. 65) may in part
justify. On the reverse of the title page is ' a spirited portrait' of Marcolini
himself. The reprint of this work of 1550, is of inferior execution; and so is
probably the anterior reprint of 1545. The opposite device more generally ap-

* See over leaf.

246

SIXTH DAY.

I frankly own it would have given me a severe pang if I
had overlooked the following truly elegant device of Jerom
Scot ; a descendant, if not the son, of the famous Octavian
of that name,-|- and of whom such honourable mention was
made yesterday. To view is to admire !

The Device of Jerom Scot.

pears in a larger form, but the composition is the same. It occurs, amongst
other works, in the multifarious pieces of that ' odd genius Doni ' (as Mr. Singer
calls him) printed by Marcolini in 1550, 4to. There is however another device
of Marcolini's, of the date of 1552, consisting of a naked woman, sitting upon a
rock, about to be crowned : a satyr, upon his knees, is below her— and her right
leg rests upon his lap. Jupiter is represented above. Bagford's Collection.
Had. MSS. 5971.

* Sibylline devices —very common among the Venetian printers of this pei'iod.]
Yet none of these ' Sibylline devices ' have appeared to me to claim so much

SIXTH DAY.

247

We must conclude with the Hooded Hawk of Eneas de
Alaris * No wonder that the pastime of hawking, so
popular at this period, should have suggested the adoption
of such a device — fit ornament for the crest of our well-
beloved Bernardo !

The Device of E. de Alaris.

attention, on the score of beauty, as do those of Tramezzino ; for, elegant as
the above may seem, (taken from an Italian version of Arrian, by Pietro Lauro
of Modena, and printed by Michel Tramezzino in 1544, 8vo.) there is probably
a still more comely dame, of the Sibylline species, in the II Cavallier Flortin,
executed by the same printer in 1565, 8vo.

+ Jerom Scot ... a descendant of thefamous Octavian of' that name.'] When
the passage at page 18-19 ante, respecting the beautiful device of .Terom Scot, was
penned, I Kttle imagined that I should have been so indiscreet, on the score of
pecuniary prudence, as to suffer a fac-simile of it to be made ! However, on a
second view, the lady appeared irresistible ; and I could not (with due gravity
be it advanced) consider myself ' happy without lier.' The reader, I trust, par-
ticipates in this felicity, or I should grudge the ' damages ' incurred. The Scots
used also the device of a figure of Fame, with a flame in her right hand, and her
right foot upon a globe : motto, ' Famam extender efactis Est ViHutis opus :' very
elegant — yet much inferior to the above. The * heirs ' of Jerom, in 1583, if not
earlier, used a very clumsy representation of the ' Three Graces' for a device :
SeeBagford's Collection. Harl. MSS. no. 5925.

* hooded hawk o/'Eneas de Alaris.] The above appears in the ' Palmerin
d'Oliva ' of 1565, 8vo. at Venice. The device of a Hawk and Lion adorns the
' Romancero Generale, en Que se contiencn todos los Romances que andan

248

SIXTH DAY.

Of Roman Printers — perhaps unluckily for Lisardo —
there happens to be only one device : of rather too late a
period, I confess ; but so whimsical and extraordinary that
you cannot fail to be all amused with it. 'Tis the device of
NicoLAUs Angelus.* Beware of the ' quills ' upon such a
' fretful porcupine !'

impresses, &c. 1604, 4to. (xiii Parts, pp. 499— with 7 leaves of table) En Madrid,
por luan de la Cuesta Vendese en casa de Francisco Lopez,' A fine copy of this
rare book is in the Hafod Library. See too Bibl. Stanleiana, no. 320 : which
copy was sold for 631. It was of the edition of 1602.

* the device of Nicolaus Angelus.] The opposite terrific looking animal
forms the device in rather a common, and indilFerently printed folio volume,
entitled 'Raphaelis Fabretti, &c. De Columna Trqjani Syntagma.' Rom<E, ex qfficina
Nicolai Angeli Tinasii mdclxxxiii, — once, however, as it should seem, a volume
of no ordinary interest and rarity : for thus discourseth the renowned Mr.
Samuel Pepys, of bibliomaniacal celebrity, (see the Bibliomania, page 422)
upon this said disquisition upon the Trajan Pillar. The letter is written to the
famous John Evelyn, and bears date ' Easter-Monday, 1692.'

Another piece of E,estituc5n I have allsoe to make you, but with

some payne, for the imperfection wherewith I must doe it, after severall yeares
laying out for meanes of doeing it better; which is j'our Columna Trajana,
which out of a desire of makeing the most use I could of, with greatest ease to
my eyes, I tooke the liberty of putting it out (but unfortunately) to an unskillful
hand, for the washing its Prints with some thui staine, in order to the abateing
a little the too strong lustre of the Paper. In the execution whereof the former
part of it has suffered such injury, that not knowing with what countenance to
returne it you soe, I determined upon makeing you Amends by the first fajre
Booke I could meete with all, putting this into my owne Livery as what I could
well enough content myselfe with for my private use. But with soe ill successe,
that notwithstanding all my uidustry, both at Auctions and otherwise, to furnish
myselfe with a fayre one for you, I have not beene able to this day to lay my
eye upon one, either Fayre or Foule, saveing one that I have very lately mett
with at Scotfs greatly imperfect, as wholly wanting the Historicall Explications
referred to through the wholle by figures from the Plates ; Sr Peter Lilly (whose
booke it was) contenting liimselfe with soe much of it, & noe more, as touched
his Profession of a Painter, without that of a Scholler. Being thus therefore
taught, how great a Jewell your Booke (even with damage) is, I thought it more
religious to restore it to you now as it is, then leave you to expect it in the same
Pickle 7 yeares hence from God knows who ; resting in the meane upon your
good Nature in accepting of soe ill a method of Payment of a Debt, that for my
Life I know not how to discharge better.'

I would at this time allsoe restore yor. admirable Magazine

250

SIXTH DAY.

A more inviting subject is now about to excite our
attention, and give a zest to our researches ; and with such
subject I must positively close the labours of this protracted
day. You will immediately anticipate the fulfilment of my
promise respecting some account of the Giunti, or Junt^
Press : which, indeed, next to that of the Aldine, has
been uniformly admitted as the most celebrated throughout
Italy. Away, therefore— as the last frolic of the hurrying
mode of this day's travelling — away, therefore, for Florence 1
Visit the native spot of Lucas Antonius Junta, the
Father of the Press which bears his name : * examine the

of Tailles Douces; but I have yet some gleanings to come in, which I would bee
glad to see the most of, and have your assistance in the disposehig of the whole,
before I part with my Sample, if you can spare it a little longer. And thus
finishing my Mint aud Cummin Scores, but leaveing those of the most & most
lasting consideration, to bee payd when they can be fully valued, Avhich is never
to be done by mee, I am very seasonably stinted of Roome to say more but
Adieu.'

I am indebted to Mr. Upcot, of the London Institution, for this curious mor-
ceau— (extracted from the original letters of Mr. S. Pepys, in the library of Lord
Anson) connected with the porcupine of Nicolaus Angelus Tinassius. Fabretti's
publication is now scarcely glanced at by modem antiquaries — and for very good
reasons, I trow ! Montfaucon has laid the foundation of a nobler school of anti-
quarian researches — connected with the country wherein that magnificent pillar
stands.

* Lucas Antonius Junta, the father of the Press which hears his name.']
Maittairc, Baillet, Crcvenna, and Bandini, each lend ' a helping hand' upon the
occasion of the Junta Biography : but as the latter has devoted a pretty stout
octavo volume to this subject, and more particularly to an account of the books
printed at the Junta (or Givnti — ' whichever sound may best delight the ear')
Press, the task pointed out for myself is sufficiently obvious : namely, to give a mere
biographical sketch of the branches of this family, and to subjoin — if the mood of
inspiration possess me as I proceed— a list of the more popular and valuable works
which have issued from the press of which we are now discoursing. Yet what a
task is this assigned! What tough work cut out! While, therefore, the lover of
smooth reading may choose to amble along upon the surface of the text, side by
side with Lysander, and thus get rapidly to the end of this ' Sixth Day,' out of the
* Ten,', the more curious and thoroughly-bred bibliomaniacal reader will rather
prefer being my companion in this voluminous note of bibliographical detail.

SIXTH DAY.

251

chief public libraries where the greater number of volumes
from such press are deposited : ' sigh, and look, and sigh
again,' over the lovely copies struck off upon vellum. . .

Patience, good-nature, and an unquenchable ardor, be the quahties of such com-
panion ! ' Voj'ons ! '

To begin with the abovementioned ' Father of the Press ; ' and, first, of the
family name itself. That name is variously spelt: Gixjnta, de Giunta, or
ZoNTA : in Latin, the most familiar to our own ears, Junta, The family arms
are thus designated by Clem, del Pace, in his ' Genealogies of Florentine Families,'
No. 239 : ' Giunti : Giglio rosso in campo bianco, striscia verde a traverso,
campo parte rosso, parte bianco. No. 304 ; Striscia verde in campo parte nero,
e parte giallo.' Bandini, pt. i. p. 1, note. Lucas Antonius Junta, the first of
that name who had any connection wiih a printing office, was descended of an
ancient and respectable family that had formerly great concerns in the wool or
cloth trade. They were of Florence, and not of Lyons — as the worthy Crevenna
supposed ; and Bandini', in his genealogical table incorporated in his work, assigns
an early date to an ancestor of the name of Lapo detta Lapino Giunta, who was
' Ambassador at Rome on the 12th of November, 1350.' His note (1) bears him
out in this date. In 1450, there seems to have been a confirmatory deed, drawn
up by Americus Vespucius, a public notary of Florence, respecting their privileges
as traders in wool : but Luc-Antonio gave a contrary direction to the employments
of his ancestors, by becoming fascinated with the punpheon and matrix. His family
however spread out into various branches or avocations ; among which Francis
Junta appears to have shone as a physician — and latterly (1789) the Juntaj were
honoured with the rank of nobility. So that, thus far, the Giunti Genealogical
Tree seems to have been ' laden with comely fruit.' Of Francis, who was born in
1522, and who was therefore, in all probability, son of Luc-Antonio, there is
rather a characteristic portrait in the second part of the Promptuarium Icomim
of Rovillius. Take a fac-simile of it here, gentle reader ; as I know not of the
existence of any other Junta-portrait— and should certainly have preferred tha
physiognomy of one of the printers.

252

SIXTH DAY.

LiSARDo. You distract me. I am a stranger to such
gems, and never even once dreamt of their existence ! But

As Rovillius (p. 291) gives Francis-— who was living when his work first
appeared — a very good character, we may contemplate his bluff countenance with
the greater satisfaction. To return to the typographical chief of the family.
Luc-Antonio seems to have established a printing office at Venice about the year
1480-1, under the care of Matteo Capocasa ; (as Lysander above properly
intimates) concerning whom Affo, in his Tvpograjia Parmense, 1790, 4to. p. xl,
discourseth with becoming minuteness. The ' Dialogo de la Seraphica Virgine
Sancta Catliarina da Siena,' 1482, 4to. is the first book yet known to have been
printed ' at the entreaty and expense of Lucantonio Zonta Fiorentino.' It was
reprinted more than once, in the same press, during the x vth century. Maittaire,
vol. i. p. 434, and Panzer, vol. iii. p. 184, no, 633, may be here consulted. It
is remarkable that, in almost all the colophons reported by Bandini, Luc-Antonio
appears to have only directed the publication and defrayed the expenses of the
several works which bear his name in the imprints ; and Crevenna, vol. vi. p. 146,
is certainly wrong in making this observation as exclusively referable to Philip
Junta. It is also a little singular that, in the numerous Giunti editions specified
by Crevenna, scarcely any should have been the production of Luc- Antonio or of
his heirs. Crevenna however was right in conjecturing Luc-Antonio to have
been the brother, rather than the son, of Philip. Luke must have lived to a good
old age ; as his name appears in the coloplion of an edition of Homer of 1537 ;
while in that of an Italian Bible, of the subsequent year, we observe that it is put
forth ' by his heirs.' The monument of that venerable printer appears in the
Dominican church of St. John and St. Paul, at Venice ; with the anns of his
family, and the following inscription. See Bandini, pt. i. p. 16-17 :

LvcAS Antonivs Ivnior Religiosis Hanc Pietatis
Aram Dica vit, Cineres, Et Ossa Maiorvm Collegit,
FjT in hvnc locvm transtvlit, et Monvmentvm hoc
SiBi, Et Posteris ex Paternis Testamenti Tabvi-is

CONSTHUXIT MDEXXI. CaL. MaRT.

The works which were published under the superintendence of Luc-Antonio
Junta, are often distinguished for extreme splendor and skiifulness of execution :
especially those relating to Church Rituals : see vol. i. p. 83-6. In general, these
works are theological, or relating to law, or medicine, or philosophy. Sometimes,
however, they are truly classical ; as the Cicero of 1534 may triumphantly prove :
and, occasionally, they exhibit an accurate text of an Italian author-— witness the
Decameron of 1527 : of which, probably, a little onward.

Philip Junta, the brother of the preceding, (and more emphatically a
Florentine printer, as he established his press at Florence) was born about the
year 1450. The first fruits of his typographical labours were the Greek Proverbs

SIXTH DAY.

253

Lysander. I pity and forgive you. Well, then, let us
begin with Luc- Antonio; the aforesaid founder of the
press of which we are speaking. The publications, how-
ever, which bear his name in the imprint, appear to have

of Zenobius, of the date of 1497, 4to. Baiidini calls him ' the Coryphaeus of
Printers,' His passion for Greek literature was hardly exceeded by that of the
elder Aldus ; and, as Bandini properly remarks, he began his career by using the
same fount of Greek type as distinguished the celebrated Florentine Homer of
1488. Why that type was so quickly discarded, does not appear very evident
or satisfactory. In 1516, Philip and his children were protected in the sale of
their books by a diploma or privilege from Pope Leo X. : addressed ' Dilecti
Filiis Philippo de Giuntis et eius Filiis Bibliopolis Florentinis.' Indeed, Philip (as
Bandini justly observes) amply merited all the encouragement which he received.
His Prefaces are delightful testimonies of his ardor and good taste : in that
prefixed to the edition of the Orations of Cicero against Verres, 1515, 8vo.
(addressed to Thomas Pighinuccius) he seems to exult in the idea that his office
had, for the last ten years, put forth the best authors in the Greek and Latin
languages, with new types. But, like that of Aldus, the period of his useful
labours was of short duration. His Plutarch of 1517, about which he had so long
and so anxiously employed himself, was destined to be the last work which
he lived to put forth. ' Sed proh dolor ! (exclaims Bandini) dum haec, et alia
plura moliretur incredibili litterarum damno Philippus e vivis ereptus est die
XVI. Septembris mdxvii.'

Bernard Jukta succeeded to the business of his father; and, perhaps eclips-
ing him in the elegance and interest of his prefaces,* he conducted it with undi-
minished reputation to the year 1551, when he died. Meanwhile a branch of
the family, of the name of James formerly Francis, had established a printing
office at Lyons ; and I have seen books, bearing the Lily Device, from that same
office, as late as the year 1590 or 1600; but they are held in comparatively
little estimation. It seems however evident, from the testimony of Conrad
Gesner, that Lucas Antonius left behind a son of the name of Thomas Junta ;
for ' to this distinguished typographer, and to the other heirs of the celebrated
Lucas Antonius Junta, of happy memory,' does the said Conrad Gesner dedicate
that division of his Pandects which relates to Law. A part of this epistolary
dedication (' perhonorifica epistola,' as Bandini truly remarks) shall find a place

* ' Since (says Bandini) the more ancient editions of the Junta Press were
published from MSS. and may therefore be exceedingly useful, from their accu-
racy, towards the formation of new editions — and since the prefatory epistles,
with which they are accompanied, may be yet more useful in the illustration of
the literature of that period, I have thought it worth while to give abridgements
of them ; striking out the redundant parts.' Annal. Juntar. pt. i. p. 30, Bandini
expatiates upon this idea, or plan, with a sort of commendable exultation.

254

SIXTH DAY.

been executed at Venice; and rather 'at his costs and
charges,' than from his personal superintendence. He pro-
bably himself continued at Florence for the greater part of

below.* Indeed Thomas was the printer of the Voyages ofEamusio; and in the
preface to the second volume of that work, of the edition of 1559, after bewailing
the death of Ramusio, (which took place in 1557, in the 72nd year of his age)
he tells us that ' four months had scarcely elapsed from that melancholy event,
when the whole of his printing office was destroyed by fire : lieuce tlie
delay of the publication of that volume.' Bandini refers us to the notes of
Apostolo Zeno upon the Bibl. ltd. of Fontanini, vol. ii. p. 275, and himself goes
on to observe that ' notwithstanding this misfortune, the Junta Press was quickly
afterwards put in motion ; and from thence forward, to the year 1642, inclu-
sively, did the heirs and descendants of the brave Thomas continue to produce
an immense number of the noblest writers in the Greek, Latin and Italiaa
languages.'

Bandini devotes by far the greater portion of the first part of his ' luntarum
Ttjpop-aphi(E Annates' to an account of the Editors who presided over the
Junta Press ; and he who shall find leisure to examine these pithy and inte-
resting pages of philology, will have no reason to lament such devotion of his
time. For the sake however of those, addicted to similar pursuits, I subjoin a
list of the names of these ' doctissirai Editores :' premising, that it will be worth
while to examine the book-repositories of Messrs. Payne, Priestly, Cuthell, and

* ' Prasstantissimo apud Venetos typographo ThomsE Juntas, et caeteris claris-
simi felicis memorias viri Luca3 Antonii Junta haeredibus, Conradus Gesnerus.'
(Aug. Ill, Calend, Zurich. 1548.)

' Dubitavi ego aliquandiu mecum, clarissima Juntarum familia, an tibi quoque
partem hujus Operis aliquam dedicarem, an prseterirem silentio. Nam gloria
Officinae tiiae niultis et raagnis voluminibus splendide magnificeque escusis com-
parata, in omni, puto, disciplinarum genere, ne te indictam et nullo nieritae laudis
preconio alfectam dimitterem, suadebat. Laudare vero, quos publicftsses libros,
nec uUos interim, ubi Rhodus & saltus, quod aiunt, nominare (ciim perpavicorum
nomina tenerem) ut ineptum quodammodo, ita instituto per alias in superioribus
libris dedicationes observato parum conveniens videbatur. His & aliis cogitatio-
nibus dum animus distrahitur mihi dubius aXK07rpo<raX\0c, vicit tandem haec
sententia : Officinae vestrae utcunque per totam Italiam imo Europam, et ultra
forte, illustriori quam ut laudibus ac testimoniis egeat alienis, quo clarior ipsa &
magnificentior est, eo amplius ex gratitudinis qnideni officio a studiosis Philosophiae
(quae omnia bona studia complectitur) omnino deberi. Quis enim non praaferat
simpliciter absque longo per singula beneficia Catalogo gratum esse, quam prorsus
(quod silentium arguere videtur) ingratum ? Scio Philipp am Juntam Florentiae
olim praeclaros in utraque lingu^ non paucos libros prffilis suis in exemplaria
innumera transfudisse : deinde optimum patrem vestrum Lucam Antonium
Jurisprudentiae reique Medicas probatissimos Authores Venetiis excudisse,' &c.
See Gesneri Libri Pandect, fol. 329, and Maittaire's Annal. Typog. vol. iii.
p. 250 : followed by an excellent account of the labours of honest old Conrad
himself I to which I ought to have referred in the Bibliomania, p. 39, &c.

SIXTH DAY.

255

the year, but ' his Office ' was unquestionably estabhshed
at Venice — and Matteo Capocasa had the chief direction
of it in the first years of its establishment. The earliest

Evans, for the said Bandini's Epistohe Clarorum Jtalorum et Gei-manorum ad P. V,
script, at Florence in 175B, 2 vols. 4to. Let such readers regale themselves,
herein, with an account of Petrus Victorius, the editor of the Cicero of
1534, in especial. Proceed we now to the names of these ' most learned wights,'
who, ' with spectacle on nose ' pored over the ' dank ' sheets as they issued from
the ' tyrapan' and ' frisket' of the Juntse press! The alphabetical order of
Bandini is observed, with references to the pages wherein he discourseth of the
merits of these ' Viri Centenarii :' — for let us shew the courteousness of our
classical education.

Adrianus Marcellus Virgilius p

. 38

Macbiavellus Nicolaus p.

108

Aldobrandus Carolus

Marcellus Christophorus

110

Alpherius Franciscus

Nicauder Ambrosius

111

Angelus Nicolaus Bucinensis

(an interesting aiticle)

Benivenius Antonius

Niphus Augustinus

118

Dominicus

Pandulphinus Innocentius

120

Phil, illexander

121

— — — Hieronymus

Bonaccursius Blasius

Phitomatlies Bernardus

122

Boninus Euphrosynus

Placidus Antonius

124

Candidus Petrus

Riccardinus Benedictus

124

(a very interesting article)

Robbia Lucas

il27

Corsius loannes

Romuleus Laurentius

129

Crescius Nicolaus

Scala Laurentius

131

Domenichi Ludovicus

Tuccius Marianus

131

Francinus Ant. Varchiensis

Victorius Petrus

132

Gaddius lohannes

(see above)

(very interesting)

Vivianus Carolus

134

loanues Monachus

104

Zetfius Franciscus

136

locundus Veron

105

(an interesting article)

Luceius Veronensis

107

Will it be said that such names produce not a sort of veliemence, or even
inspiration, as it were, to open those volumes (whether filled for the greater part
with the text of ancient classical writers, or containing exclusively original
matter) to which they are prefixed ? ! Will any collector, young or old — can any
student or professor — express indifterence to choice copies of first impressions
wherein the editorial labours of such men are recorded? Forbid it, ye chief
trainers of the youth of our country ! Let no such heresy, or rather mildew, taint
the air in which the embryo seeds of bibliomaniacal literature are so assiduously
cultivated — at Shrewsbury, at Rugby, at Winchester, at Reading, at Eaton, at
Harrow, at Westminster, and St. Paul's! Surely, the Dampiers and Heaths

256

SIXTH DAY.

book in which the name of Luc- Antonio Junta appears, is
of the date of 1482 ; and the latest, of 1537 : so that you
see the said Luc-Antonio must have been a comely old
gentleman when he took his departure '

have not ' preached and practised in vain! ?' Rather, let the mastigo])h(yrismg spirit
be exercised with all its energies, when volumes, of a description like those to which
the preceding remarks refer, are found wantonly torn or barbarously destroyed !
For it is not quite impossible, that, in the libraries attached to some of our old
public schools, or minor colleges, a first Lascaris, or Chalcondylas, or Chrysolm'as,
or even Li7i/— clad in its pristine Grolier garb — yet reposeth beneath the unswept
cobwebs of some three hundred years. It is just possible, I repeat, that this
may not be mere romantic conjecture !

Possible also it is, that the reader may, by this time, begin to feel some ' com-
punctious visitings' for having so frequently looked with a cold eye, and
untouched heart, upon first Junt« impressions — as they have glided along,
like meteors, beneath the hurrying hammer of Pertinax ! If I were quite
certain that a smcere and bitter repentance followed ' hard upon ' such ' prick of
conscience,' (to speak in the auncient language of the Hermit of Hampole) I
might, from motives of particular compassion, or even general benevolence,
prevent the repetition of these ' pricks,' by subjoining a list of the VerjE et
Primari/e Editiones in Officinis Jvntarum ImpresSjE. Does then the
'fit of inspiration' — anticipated in the earlier stage of this note — really now
possess me ? And must I, from feelings of pure benevolence or pure bibliomania,
wade through this formidable list of ' the more popular and valuable works which
have issued from the Junta Press?' 'Tis decreed : and I proceed to the execu-
tion of the task. One word only by way of ' proheme.' I have taken especial
care to notice all the vellum copies recorded by Bandini; in order that nothings
in the way of virtuous temptation, may be omitted to induce the reader to become
a Junta-partisan — and if the richly-garnished cabinet of St. Jameses-Place, of
Cleveland-Square, of Stratton-Street, or of Clapham, or, to proceed northerly,
Hodnet, should, chiefly in consequence of these Giunti memoranda, receive still
additional treasures in the way of early Florentine publications — the author of
them, like Cato's beloved son, or the conquerors of Trafalgar, may be said to
have ' done his duty.'

Books Printed b? the Giunti.
Anthologia, Gr. 1519, 8vo. (Hered. P. Juntas.) A perfect copy of this very rare
book, which in all probability is a reprint of the Aldine edition of 1503,
should contain 411 pages. There seems to be no preface ; and in the page
immediately following the title, we read * KsfaXaiu tou A. Tjtx.^jU.aroj.''
Bandini, pt. i. p. 144. Where lurk the vellum copies, or where lurks the
only VELLUM COPY, of this precious publication.' Will it ever find its way
into the Aldine Cabinet at Spencer House — to greet there its Aldine precursor,
clad in a similar suit? ' Veniet iste dies !'

SIXTH DAY.

257

Philip Junta, the brother of Luke, was born about the
middle of the fifteenth century, and may with more strict-
ness be designated as a genuine Florentine printer. The
earhest production of his press is of the date of 1497, and

Books Printed by the Giunti.

Apuleius, ^c, 1510, 1512, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1522, 8vo. (Hered. ejud.) The various
opuscula contained in this publication (for there are the works of other
authors besides those of Apuleius) are specifically mentioned by Baudini •, but
it must be remarked that, although not noticed in the title-page, there will be
found, at the end, a treatise entitled ' Cosmographia, sine de Mundo ad
Faustinum." The first edition contains, in the whole, 254 leaves, with the
register and device. Immediately following the title-page is a prefatory
epistle of Alexander Rossellus : partly given by Bandiai. The second impres-
sion is stated upon the authority of the last Crevenna Catalogue, vol. iii. pt. ii.
p. 121. The third edition has 274 leaves, with prefatory matter containing
6 leaves. Bernardus Philomathes was the editor of this latter edition.
Consult Bandini, pt. ii. p. 250, 252, about two Italian versions of it in 1549.

Aquilano, Opere, 1516, 8vo. (P. di Giunta.) This edition, to be complete, should
contain 215 leaves, besides 8 of polegomena. Among the works are clxv.
Sonetti and ccclxxiii. Strambotti. The editor was Bernard Junta. Bandini,
pt. ii. p. 112.

Aristidis Orationes, Gr. 1517, folio, (P. de Junta.) Editio Princeps. To be
complete, this very elegantly printed book should contain 183 leaves. Consult
the Introd, to the Classics, vol. i. p. 171.

Aristophanes, 1515, 8vo. Gr. Sine Scholiis.
. I 1525, 4to. Gr. Cum Scholiis.

— 1540, 8vo. Gr. Sine Scholiis.

These are the various editions of Aristophanes printed at the Junta
Press, and must be particularly specified ; although they have been previ-
ously touched upon (^Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 174-5) in no very
superficial manner. Their critical differences, or comparative intrinsic worth,
is noticed in the pages just referred to ; but let the first impression, with the
10th and 11th Comedies of tlie &£(r[J,ofopia.l^ov(roil, and Avcifpotla,
separately published in the same year, form the leading object of the
collector's attention ; as its rarity is considerable, and its text of no small
importance. To be perfect, a copy should contain 246 leaves. The second
edition lias also its intrinsic value, and comprehends 373 leaves, exclusively of
8 of prolegomena. The third, perhaps the rarest of the three, occupies 248
leaves, but a preface appears to be wanting. Bandini describes the first and
third editions as ' in large octavos and the second ' in large quarto.' These
volumes are perhaps absolutely necessary for a careful and critical revision of
the text of Aristophanes. Exist there copies upon vellum ? !

258

SIXTH DAY.

the latest, of 1517 : so that his career was scarcely much
lengthened beyond that of the Elder Aldus. Philip was, in
every respect, a printer of very considerable reputation :
his turn was more classical than that of his elder brother,

Books Printed by the Giunti.

Aristotelis Opera Qtucedam, Gr. 1521, 4to. 1527", 4to. (hered. P. Juntae.) The
specific contents of each impression are detailed by Bandini. The first,
whicli has the fewer opuscula, contains 151 leaves ; and the editor was
A. F. Varchiensis. It is a rare and estimable volume. The second impres-
sion was edited by Leonicus ThomiEus, whose address to Bernard Junta is
partly reprinted by Bandini : see his Annal. Junior. Typog. pt. ii. p. 164,
p- 213. A perfect copy contains 318 leaves. The last page has the Junta
device. The latter impression appears to have some marginal wood-cut
ornaments. It is a book well deserving a place in every critical collection.

Aulas Gellius, 1513, 8vo. (P. Junta.) We have here the first and only edition of
Aulus Gellius from the press of the Junt^. _ Bandini, pt. i. p. 47 ; pt. ii.
p. 42-4, is sufficiently particular in his account of it ; giving us the interesting
ode of Alexius Lapaccinus in praise of its learned editor, Carolus Aldobrandus,
whose dedicatory epistle to Lorenzo de' Medici, grandson of the celebrated
character of that name, and addressed to the reader, precede the text. lu the
whole, there are 330 pages, with 16 pages of prolegomena. Bandini notices
a copy UPON vellum in the E-iccardi collection.

Bembo Pietro, Gli Asolani, 1505, 8vo. (P. Junta.) A preliminary epistle by Bembo,
to the famous Lucretia Borgia, precedes the text. In the whole, 109 leaves.

Biblia Sacra Latina, 1533, 12mo. (L. A. Junta.) A neatly printed volume. In
Bandini's own collection,

Latina : cum Concordantiis, <^c. una cum totius BiblieE Compendiolo per

rhythmos descripto, ^c. 1511, 4to. (L. A. Junta.)

- • per Capellannm, 1511, 4to. (L. A. Junta.)

With wood-cuts to almost every chapter. Copies were in the collection of
the late Cardinal Lomenie de Brienne. A reprint of either the one or the
other of these publications, with the wood-cuts, appeared in large octavo in
1519 : a volume of equal interest and rarity.

I Vulgare Ital. de Mallermi, 1490, folio, (L. A. Junta.) Reprinted in

1494—1507.

■ in lingua Toscana per Brucioli, 1532, folio, (L. A. Junta.) With

numerous and elegant wood cuts. A rare and magnificent volume.

— — — in Lingua Fiorentina trad, per Marmochino, 1538, folio, (per li ered. di
L. A. J.) This is supposed to be the first publication by the heirs of L. A.
Junta. A copy was in the Pinelli collection, (Bibl. Pinell. vol. iv. p. 3, no. 8)
and there called ' assai rara.' It may be worth while to procure the subsequent
edition of 1546, according to the authorities cited in Bandini, pt. i. p. 19.

SIXTH DAY.

259

and if he have not equalled him in the ' gorgeous apparel '
of his pubhcations, he has unquestionably excelled him in
the erudition of their contents, I hope the British Museum

Books Printed by the Giunti.
Boccaccio : II Decamerone, 1516, 4to.— ' con grandissima diligentia emendate'
The presses of Venice produced two celebrated editions of the Decameron of
Boccaccio in the same year. One of them was by Gregorio de Gregori, of
which ' a most beautiful copy, from Count Hoym's collection, having the
initials painted with gold, in yellow morocco,' was sold at the sale of Colonel
Stanley's library for 631. A tremendous price !— when it is considered that
it had cost its owner only 5/. 5s. ; and that, as far as bibliography seems to
help us, it is an edition of inferior rarity to the one of which we are about to
make mention. The copy of De Gregori's edition in the Pinelli library pro-
duced but 2Z. 6s., although called ' a very precious edition.' It was purchased
by Molini. See Haym, vol. iii. p. 7 : and Brunet, vol. i. p. 178-9.

The GiuNTA EDITION, which we are now to describe, has been long con-
.sidered both a very rare and very curious performance. Each ' day,' or set
of novels, has a wood-cut prefixed ; and there is also a prefatory epistle of
Boccaccio — ' che (says Haym) il Dolce chiama sciocca invenzione, e impo-
stura :' adding, however — ' Per altro questa edizione ha il suo pregio.' From
the same authority it appears that Giunta corrected the second novel of the
4th day, and the fifth novel of the 8th day, but in a very trifling and imma-
terial degree. Bibl. Ital. vol. iii. p. 7, no. 7. From Haym, we proceed to
De Bure ; but in the Bihl. Instruct, vol. iv. no. 3662-3-4, there is no specific
detail of the arrangement of its contents, and it is only mentioned, summarily,
in a brief description of the impression of Gregorio de Gregori, and of that of
Agostino de Zani, 1518. From De Bure we make a short trip to Los-Rios ;
who, in his Bibl. Instruct. 1777, 8vo. p. 90, no. 288, is pleased to say, ' cette
edition est une de celles qui sont tres-rares. D'ailleurs elle a, avec les autres
de son espece, I'avantage d'avoir un supplement, qui contribue beaucoup a en
relever !e merite et le prix.' This ' Supplement' (mentioned also by De Bure)
is three additional Novels, which have the merit of not being the production
of Boccaccio. The Crevenna copy of this Giunti impression was ' in the most
perfect preservation:' see Bibl. Crevenn. vol. iv. p. 181, edit. 1775. It is
there called ' large 8vo.' but Baiidini properly describes it as ' small quarto.'
The Pinelli copy of this uncommon edition was ' di maravigliosa bellezza, legato
nobilmente alia Francese, colle carte dorate.' Bibl. Pinell. vol. v. p. 9,
no. 3291. It was purchased at the sale of the Pinelli library by my friend
Mr. R. Wilbraham for 31. 10s. See Sale Catalogue, no. 4291. We now
reach Bandini, who is copious and instructive ; and who subjoins a long
gossipping letter from Pellegrini upon the subject. He further tells us that
the edition contains 329 pages, numbered only on the rectos of the leaves,
VOL. II. R

2G0 SIXTH DAY.

and the public libraries of Oxford and Cambridge contain a
score or two of these PUUpine treasures.

From Philip we proceed to his son Bernard Junta;

Books Printed by the Giunti.
and that the preface and index of novels contain 8 additional pages.
Neither the collections of Croft or Colonel Stanlej contained it. A copy, it
seems, was in the Roxburghe library (no. 6293) and purchased by Lord
Spencer for 71. Mr. Payne, at this moment, possesses the Borromeo copy of
this desirable volume. It is large, clean, and perfect : in its ancient bmdmg.
with tooled gilt fore-edges. See Bandh.i, pt. ii. 105. Mr. Heber also is
the fortunate possessor of a copy.
Boccaccio. II Decamerone. 1527, 4to. (Hered. di P. di Giunta.) Every collector
must be aware that, from his very bibliographical infancy, he has been
trained to estimate at a prodigious price the impression immediately under
consideration. Bandiai, pt. ii. p. 211, is lamentably deficient; thinking
perhaps, with good old Crevenna, that ' I'histoire de cette celebre Mition, son
extreme rareteje grand cas qu'on en fait, et son prix exorbitant, sont des
choses si connues et si constatfes que ce seroit jetter le terns a en parler.'
Bibl. Crevenn. vol iv. p. 183. De Bure, however, is gloriously communica-
tive; and pursues his comparison respecting the genuine and forged edition,
in a manner so close and conclusive, that the roguery of the latter (by mucli,
however, the prettier book in a typographical point of view) can scarcely fail
of being detected. Bihl. Instruct, vol. iv. p. 58. I begin to suspect that
even the ' legittima e sincera edizione ' is not so rare as the old bibliographers
were wont to consider it. Nearly a dozen copies of it (if I do not greatly
err) have passed ' sub hasta' during the last dozen years, within the
precincts of our metropohs; and almost all the leading collections contain it.
A short time ago Mr. Payne possessed two copies of it. 0 rare Mr. Payne !
Certainly it is not so scarce as either of the previous editions of 1516. I
ouglit to speak perhaps under correction. I have seen the Roxburghe,
Stanley, and Talleyrand copies ; and the libraries of Mr. Hibbert, Mr. Heber,
Mr, Grenville, Earl Spencer, and his Majesty each contain a copy. It is
also at Luton, at White-Knights, and atFonthill; but some of these may
have been obtained from the libraries of Pinelli or Crevenna. The
' Stanley' copy produced, I think, the largest sum ever yet obtained for
it— 35«. 14s. ; it had been successively in the libraries of the Duke de la
Valliere and Lord ClanbrasU : and even the ' counterfeit,' (executed at
Venice in 1729, under the direction of Consul Smith) produced 41. 10s. at
the sale of the same library. It was however ' splendidly bound in russia by
Walther, with silk ends.' A complete copy of this edition contains 284 leaves
of text, with 6 of a table. Bandini therefore is wrong in omitting the table.
Brunet has not failed to enrich his notice of this desirable volume by men-

SIXTH DAY.

261

whose prefaces are considered by Bandini as yet more ele-
gantly composed than those of his parent. The son died
about the middle of the sixteenth century;, and was suc-

BooKs Printed by the Giunti.

tioning the only known copy of it, upon large paper, which is contained in
the library of Count Melzi, at Milan ; and Crevenna seems to revel in the de-
scription of the only known copy,TjpoN vellum, oncein the Firmian collection:
' Les Giunti (says he) ont tire de cette faraense et rare Edition un exemplaire
SUR VELiN de tres grandes marges. Get exemplaire uni(|ue et tres precieux
se trouve dans la riche Bibliotlieque de S. E. M le Conite Firmian, Ministre
Plenipotentiaire a Milan.' See Bihl. Firmiun. vol. v. p. 16.5 : as referred to
also by Brunet. Of the copies upon paper, that of Mr. Heber was probably
among the very choicest; as it was bound by Du Sueuil. It was found
however to be imperfect, and returned accordingly.
Boccaccio. La Fiametta, 1517, 8vo, (P. de Giunta.) The editor was Bernard
Junta In the whole, 111 leaves. B:indini notices a beaufifully illuminated
copy in the Riccardi collection. This impression was reprinted in 1524 and
1533, in 8vi>.; but the latter (having 110 leaves) is only a re-impression of
that of 1522. A copy however of the edition of 1533 produced 2/. 3s. at
the sale of Colonel Stanley's Library. The first edition is with difficulty
found, Mr. Grenville possesses a copy of the second.
Boccaccio. Ameto. 1521, 1529, 8vo. (Hered. P. de Giunta.) The first edition
contains 94 pages ; but the second should appear to possess 103 leaves. See
Bandini, pt. ii. p. 164, 220. Mr. Heber possesses a copy of the first, and
Mr. Grenville a copy of the second edition.
Boethius, de Consolatione Philosophie, 1507, Svo. (P. Junta.) Contains 64 leaves.
An uncommon book.

Idem Opus: et de Scholaslica Disciplina, 1513, 1521, Bvo. The first

edition contains 80 leaves : the second, by the heirs of P. Junta, contains
the same number ; and the same preliminary pieces, (by Nicholas Crescius,)
as in the previous edition, are also in the present.
Boiardo; Orlando Inamorato. 1541, 4to. (' per li Ered. di L. A. Giunti.') A
very fine copy of this first Junta edition, justly said ' to be very rare,' was
purchased by Mr. Payne, for 9/. 9s. at the sale of Colonel Stanley's library.
In the year 1783, at Croft's sale, it reached the sum of 11. 5s. only. Copies
are in the libraries of Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber.

■ '> et rifatto da Francesco Bemi, 1545, 4to. (per li

Ered. di L. A. G.) Both the present and preceding editions are summarily
noticed in the Bibl. Smith, p. lxv. 4to. 1755. See also the notes of Apostolo
Zeno in the Bihl. Ital. Fontanini, vol. i. p. 258. This latter edition was sold
for 4/. 4s. at the sale of Croft's books : see Bibl. Crofts, no. 2929.
e«eMr C. I. Commentaria, 1508, 1514, 1520, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The first edition

262

SIXTH DAY.

ceeded chiefly by Thomas, who, with the other heirs of the
elder brother, Luc-Antonio, kept up, if not a tremendous, at
least a steady and well-directed fire from their typographical

Books Printed by the Giunti.
was put fortb under the editorial care of Lucas Robia. It contains ccxxxxviii
pages, exclusively of two pages of a preliminary epistle. The second edition
owes its appearance to the diligence and accuracy of loannes locundus
Veronensis ; who, in his prefatory epistle to Julian de Medici, seems to
expatiate upon the perils and perplexities of the undertaking : he having
ransacked countless hordes of MSS. for the purest text * This impression,
particularly described by Bandini, contains 286 leaves, exclusively of 16 of
prolegomena, wood-cut plans, &c. and an alphabetical index by Marlianus.
I have before noticed (Introduction to the Classics, vol. i. p. 226) the beau-
tiful copy of this edition, upon vellum, which enriches the Cracherode
(from the Paris) Collection; and which had escaped the researches of Bandini.
The third edition seems to be a mere paginary reprint of the second,
Cathenna da Siena, 1482, 4to. (Lucas Antonius Junta.) The first book of the

Junta Press ; reprinted in 1483, 1494, &c. &c. See page 252 ante.
Cat^dlus, Tibullus, Propeitius. 1503, 8vo. (P. Junta.) This edition seems to be
formed upon the Aldine; which, from the preface of the present, was pub-
lished about five months before it. The editor was Benedictus Philologus,
who dedicated it to a young man, of great promise, of the name of Bonacur-
■ sins Pepius. The impression also contains the lives of the three poets written
in Greek and Latin by Petrus Crinitus. It contains 152 leaves. I make no
doubt of there being a copy or two upon vellum— and of paramount
• beauty too 1 Mr. Heber possesses it upon paper.
Cei Ciptadino. Francescho : Sonecti, Capituli, Canzone, Sextine, Stanze, et Stram-
bocti par, <f c. 1503, 1514, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The first edition contains 62
leaves, exclusively of a preliminary epistle ; as counted by Bandini from a

• copy in his own possession. Mr. Heber also possesses it. The second contains
58 leaves, with the same introductory epistle. Bandini notices a copy of this

* • Ego quidem (says locundus) in eo multum elaboravi, conquisivi multa tota
Gallia exemplaria, qua; in provincia quod multa eo semper ex Italia translata
sunt, atque ea minus preds exposita, ac bellis fuerunt, multo incorruptiora
volumina cuiusque generis reperiuntur, contuli omnia, diligenter excussi, ncque
raeo tantum iudicio contentus fui, sed quum multa undique colligissem, eruditos
plures demum Venetiis convocavi, eorumque ingeniis omnia subieci iudicanda,
neque quidquam non perpensum ; ex quo efFectum est, ut pauca admodum
restent, quje in suum nitorem restituta non sint, sed eas fortasse aliquis aliquando
maculas deterget, nobis id satis sit egisse, ut perpaucaj omnino reliquae sint.' _ A
little before, Jucundus speaks, positively enough, of the text of this impression
being much more correct than any which had preceded it. Bandini, pt. i.
p. 105 ; pt. ii. p. 26, 63.

SIXTH DAY.

263

batteries till nearly the close of the sixteenth century. This,
I admit, is but a brief and unsatisfactory account of the
truly distinguished family, to whom, as the concluding part

Books Printed by the Giunti.
second edition ' upon vellum, with the initials illuminated ' in the Riccardi
library : pt. ii. p. 9, 72.
Chrysoloras ; see ' EncMridium Grammatices.'

Cicero. Opera Omnia, 1534-7, folio, 4 vols. (L. A. Junta.) The editor was
Victorius. See p. 255, ante ; and examine Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 254.
These magnificent volumes seem to have much fallen, of late, from their ' high
estate.' They are however noble specimens of editorial skill as well as typo-
graphical beauty. The only known copy of this edition upon large paper
is in the library at Osterley.

. Rhetor. Vet. et Nov. 1508,1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The prefatory address

to the first edition is by Laurentius E-omuleus to Franciscus Cattaneus. In the
whole, 148 leaves. The second edition contains 136 leaves, exclusively of
11 leaves of Prolegomena ' worthy of being known.' The dedication is by
Nicolaus Angelius to Philip Strozzi; and is given at length by Bandini,
pt ii. p. 77. It holds out abundance of encouragement to possess the edition.

. De Oratore ; De Claris Oratoribiis : Orator : Topica ; Oratori<E

Partitiones ; De Opt. Gen. Orator. 1514, 1526, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The first
edition contains 249 leaves of text, exclusively of 6 of an ' Index Rerum,'
and 4 of an ' Index Nominum.' The second impression (by the heirs of
Philip Junta) also contains 249 leaves, exclusively of the 10 leaves of
Indexes, and one of an introductory Epistle. This introductory epistle, by
Lucas Robia, (which is pleasant enough) is given by Bandini. It occurs also
in the first edition.

• Orationes, 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta), The editor was Nicolaus Angelius.
His prefatory address to Latinus Benassaiiis is reprinted by Bandini : pt. ii.
p. 83. It is worth perusal ; as it informs us of the pains which both
Benassaius and Junta took in presenting the public with a well-edited and
■well-printed volume. The printer is called ' vir iraprimendis libris eximia
sedulitate et cura.' * Many ancient and valuable ms.' are said to have been
collated ; ' and the book comes before the public with every advantage that
new types and careful printing can give it.' After this dedicatory epistle, we
observe an Index of the Orations, xxix in number. These are stated by
Bandini. The title, dedicatory epistle, and index, occupy the first 7 leaves :
then a blank leaf. The text contains 453 leaves. Bandini notices a copy in
the Lena collection, ' upon the whitest vellum.' Happy Lena ! A
reprint of this valuable volume, in 1519, 8vo. is noticed in rather a suspicious
manner by Harwood, edit. 1790.

. Orationes Verrina, 151.5-, 8vo. (P. Junta.) Mention of this edition

2Gi

SIXTH DAY.

of my exertions in this Decameronic warfare, I have been
anxious to direct your attention Be yours, my friends, the
profit and boast of a careful and particular enquiry into

Books Printed by the Giunti.
has been before sliglitly made. Tlie address of the printer to Pighinuccius
is animated and interesting. In the whole, 216 leaves. If ;i portrait of
Pighinuccius be in existence, it must represent an object of no mean beauty :
his intellect, also, if the printer have not used 'glosing words,' apears to have
been of equ il beauty with his person. Consult Bandini, pt. ii. p 7,5.

Cicero. Orat'wnes PhUippktE, 1.515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) An address by the son,
Bernard Junta, to Antonius Nerlius, precedes the text. Tliis address is both
' pithy and pleasant.' In the whole, 108 leaves.

— — — Epistola: ad Atticum, 1514, 8vo. (P. Junta.) An elegant, architectural
border encircles the frontispiece. The text contains 335 leaves ; preceded by
12 of prolegomena.

' EpistolcE Familiares, 1510, 1526, 8vo, (P. Junta.) The first impression is

noticed by Banduii upon the authority of Maittaire's Index, pt. i. p. 286.
The second, printed ' by the heirs of P. Junta,' contains 256 leaves.

" Tusculana: Quastiones, 1508, 1514, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The address by

Lucas Robia to Beiiivenius precedes tlie text of the author, which latter
contains 97 leaves. The work is dedicated to Benivenius, in order that he
may be solaced, during his severe infirmities, by the perusal of it: ' Verum
quia aliter (says Robia) non possum tuis mederi languoribus, adversisque
rebus subvenire, nieo tuoque solatio hoc vere totius Philosojjhia; panareion
tibi nuncupatim dico, non quod dubitem te fortiter dolores non fen e, sed ut
fortius feras.' The second edition appears to be only a reprint of it. Bandini
refers to the Italian edition of Harwood, 1780, p. 188 ; and to the Pinelli
Catalogue, vol. i. p. 249. A third edition appeared in 1532, 8vo. containing
103 leaves. The device (no. 3) and an ' Index Rerum' should be found in
this third impression, which has the usual architectural frontispiece.

— — — . De Natura Deorum, (^-c. 1516, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The ten different pieces,
of which this edition is composed, are specified by Bandini. The editor was
Nicolaus Bucinensis. In the whole, 351 leaves. At the end is a privilege
of Pope Leo X. and an ' Index Rerum Memorabilium' which, c< llectively,
occupy 10 pages. The address of Bucinensis to Cardinal Divitius is reprinted
by Bandini, pt. ii. p. 109, 110.

De Officiis, ^c. 1.508, 1513, 1517, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The first edition is

given upon the authority of the Pinelli Catalogue, vol. i. p. 253. Th(! second
(containing the De Amicitia, De Senechite, Ve Faradoa is, De Smnnio Scipionis)
appeared under the editorial care of Robia, whose prclin)inary e|)i^lle, on the
reverse of the title page, is given by Bandini. In the whole, 116 leaves, with 2
of a preface. The edition of I5t7 has 157 of text, and 4 of prefatory matter.

SIXTH DAY.

265

the more important labours of their press ; and be per
suaded that, when you consider the celebrity of those
authors and editors who conducted the operations of the

Books Printed by the Giunti,
The editor was the celebrated I. B. Egnatius — who added the YlapoSo^U,
0eQ^cupov TTspi yripcug sp[j,YjVsloi. and O"vsipos "^xmtoovoc.

Claudianus, Opera, 1519, 8vo. (Here:l. P. Juntje.) The editor was A. F. Var-
chiensis. In the whole, 175 leaves. The dedicatory address is rather
interesting, and promises mucli for the accuracy of the text of the poet.
Baiidini, pt. ii. p. 143. Mi-. Heber possesses a copy of it.

Dante Commedia di — con nnu Dialogo circa el sito, forma, et misure dello Inferno,
1506, 8vo. (P. Junta.) In tiie whole, 31'2 leaves: with an ode to Dante by
Benivenius, as well as the ' Dialogue,' by Manetti. There is a small wood-
cut of Dante, walking in a wood, and met by three wild beasts. This occurs
at the table. Some Sonetti e Canzoni of Dante occur in the edition of 1527,
see below ' Sonetti,' &c. Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber possess each a copy
of the very rare edition of 1503.

Demetrius Phalereus. Gr. 1552, 8vo. Apud Juntas. There are 6 leaves, including
the title page, of introductory manner. The text contains 96 numbered leaves :
then one leaf of ' Lapsus Operarum.' The device, both at begiiming and
end, of a snake casting its slough, very rare. A copy is in the Bodleian
library.

Dumysius. Opuscula. Gr. 1516, 8vo. The contents are thus specifically noticed by
Bandini : ' De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia : De Divinis Nomiuibus : De Ponti-
ficali Dignitate : De Mystica Theologia : Epistote : Marty riura Seti. Dionysii.'
In the whole, 190 leaves. Some Greek fragments are subjoined at the end,
from Methodius, or, as others say, Metrodorus. The privilege of Leo X at
the beginning of the volume, is dated Feb. 15, 1516.

EclogcB Vergilii, Calphuniii, <Src. 1504, 8vo. (P. Junta.) Contains 159 counted
leaves. The eclogues of Nemesiamts, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Mantuanus, and
Pomponiiis Gauriciis, are also incorporated in this impression. The dedicatory
epistle to John Baptista Basius, by Benedictus Philologus (as given by
Bandini, pt. ii. p 11) is exceedingly interesting. Mr. Heber has a copy of
this uncommon book.

Enchiridium Grammatices. Gr. 1514, 8vo. (P. Junta.) This rare and estimable
volume contains the Erotemata o( Chrysoloras, with excerpts from Chulcondylas,
Theodoriis, Herodian, Cato, and others. The imprint shews the importance
which Philip Junta attached to the impression. In the whole, 288 leaves
'counted over:' the device, no. 3. It was reprinted in the ensuing year,
1516 ; which edition Fabricius and Maittaire have erroneously called the first.
This latter contains 285 leaves. Consult Bandini, pt. ii. p. 54, 108. Mr.
Grenville and Mr. Heber each possess a copy of it. In 1540 Benedict

266

SIXTH DAY.

same press, your time and your enquiries will not have
been devoted to an unworthy purpose. For myself, I
am free to admit that it is rather a reproach to a few of

Books Printed by the Giunti.
(qu. Bernard ?) Junta reprinted the greater portion of the contents of these
volumes, without the preface, which edition contains 288 leaves. The device
of the printer accompanies the first and last pages. Bandini. pt. ii. p. 233.
Euripides. Scholia in Sept. Trag. Gr. 1534, 8vo. (L. H. Junta.) First edition of the
Scholia upon the first Seven Tragedies. Four introductory leaves, including
title-page; not numbered. Then 293 leaves, numbered. The imprint on the
294th leaf, not numbered. See the note * in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i.
p. 329. A copy is in the Bodleian library ; and a second and third are in
the collections of Mr. Heber and Mr. Grenville.
Eutropius, Herodian, Aurelius Victor, ^c. 1517, 8vo. (P. Junta.) Herodian comes
first and occupies 90 leaves ; the remaining authors fill the 127 remaining
leaves. There is also a preface of four leaves. A diploma of Leo X. and
Politian's preface to Herodian, translated by him into Greek, &c. are also
incorporated. The editor was A. F. Varchiensis. A fine copy of this only
impression of Eutropius from the Junta Press should not be hastily ' forgone'
by the eager collector of ancient classical literature.
Gauricus Pomponius. de Sculptura,^c. 1504, 8vo. (P. Junta.) A very curious and
uncommon book ; treating also upon Perspective, Symmetry, Physiognomy,
Chemistry, Colouring, &c. A part of the preface— written by Antonius Pla-
cidus to Lorenzo Strozzi is interesting enough. The young Strozzi, with a well-
furnished purse, had just completed the structure of his palace—' Nam quid,
rogo, (says the editor) potuit fieri convenientius, quam elegantissimus libellus
luveni dicaretur elegantissimo, quam nova ars, ipsis addita liberalibus octava,
novam adiret domum, et quae quasi octavum haberetur in mundo miraculum,
decoratam statuis, decoratam et picturis? Tu igitur munus hoc nostrum
patrocinio tuo complectere, et quod te facturum scio, ne de tuis, ne de Philippi
fratris tui optimaruni litterarum studiosissiiiii nmnibus umquam temere cadat ;
nam praeterquam quod haec saepius legendo, latinam linguam, quod ego in me
expertus sum, efficietis exornatiorem, et vestram pulcritudinem relegetis, &
vehementius multo vestri Palatii oriiamenta diligetis. Vale.' The edition
contains 46 leaves ; and a copy is in the Magliabecchi collection. There are
also the Eclogues of Gauricus, as in the previous edition.
GaziR Theodori Gram. Introd. Lib. IV. Gr. 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) In the whole,
213 leaves. The editor was Euphrosynus Boninus. A rare book ; according
to Crevenna in his own Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 13. See also Maittaire, vol. ii.
p. 274, note (d.) Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber each possess a copy of it.
It was reprinted in 1526, with other grammatical opuscula, including the
Enchiridion of Hephasstion, by the heirs of Bernard Junta ; of which latter

SIXTH DAY.

267

our principal collectors that the name of Giunta has been
held by them in such comparatively general neglect : for
if the Alduses and Elzevirs are ranked among the chief

Books Printed by the Giunti.
(containing 284 leaves) a particular description is given by Bandini, pt. ii.
p. 203, on the authority of Signor Luccliesini. The Enchiridion of Hephacstion
was separatel}' published in 8vo. containing 52 leaves.

Gualberto Giovanni, Vita di, 1510, 4to. (L. A. Junta.) Bandini mentions a copy
of it UPON VELLUM in his own collection; to which is subjoined a summary
of the Rules of the Vallombrosal Order, &c. in 20 pages, with the date of
Sept. 10, 1510. Of Gualberto, see vol. i. p. 76, &c.

Hermogenis Rheturica, Gr. 1515, 8vo. (B. Junta.) With ' Apthonii* Sophistce Pm-
ludia.' The address of the printer to Laurentius Benevenius is on tlie reverse
of the title-page. On a ii, the text of Apthonius begins, concluding on the
recto of c viii. The text of Hermogenes occupies the remaining part of the
volume, as far as C viij, (second set of signatures) having the device, no. 3, on
the reverse of the same leaf. All the signatures are in eights; and after z,
comes &. The richly stored libraries of Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber each
contains a copy of it.

Hesiodiis. Opera, d|-c. Gr. 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1540, (B. Junta.) Without the
Scholia ; but containing the golden verses of Pythagoras and the moral institutes
of Cato, &c. See the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 370, where the warmest
recommendation, on the authorities of Fabricius and Clement, is given in
favour of the first of these editions. It is indeed not less valuable than rare ;
and fortunate may that classical collector consider himself who possesses
a copy of it at once ample and unsoiled. The editor was Euphrosynus
Boninus, who dedicates it to Jacobus Diacetus, ' the best of friends.' It
should contain 83 leaves. The second edition (of which Mr. Grenville and
Mr. Heber possess copies) has only a Latin title, but the contents of the
work are wholly in Greek ; and it contains, in addition, Musteus, Orpheus, and
Phocylides. It is without preface, and has 148 leaves — according to Bandini —
(pt. ii. p. 73-234) which are not numbered. Both editions are consequently
requisite to the curious collector.

Hesychius. Lexicon, 1520, Gr. folio. The Greek title, in 2 lines, is over the large
device, as at page 272, post. On sign, a ii, is the address of A. F. Varchiensis.
On a Hi the text begins, and runs to 155 numbered leaves. On the reverse
of fol. 155 is the device, as before ; and the date as above. In the Bodleian
library, and Mr. Heber's collection.

Homerus. Opera Omnia, Gr. 1519, Bvo. (Hered. P. Juntae.) The first volume,
containing the Iliad, comprises 294 leaves of text, 2 of a prefatory epistle.

* Incorrectly printed Ausonius, &c.

2G8

SIXTH DAY.

treasures of a well-selected library, I see no reason why the
GiuNTi tomes should be considered in a less favourable point
of view. Indeed, on many points, I should give them a
decided preference.

Books Printed by the Giunti.
and 64 of supplementary matter. The second volume contains, in the whole,
280 leaves. According to the authorities quoted in the Intrad. to the Classics,
vol i. p. 390, this pnbl cation should seem to be a mere reprint of the second
Aldine edition. It is a very scarce impression ; and I make no doubt of
there being at least one copy upon vkllum ! See Bandini, jit. ii. p. 140-2.

Horatius. 1.503, 1.514, 1519, 8vo. (P. Junta.) ' These editions of Horace (says
the learned and competent Milscherlich) may be numbered among the more
accurate and excellent ones of the poet. They are too much neglected by
editors; altho\igh, when investigated, tliey will be found to contain matter
well deserving attention.' Jntrnd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 405. The first
impression (as indeed have all the subsequent ones) contains an illustration of
the several (nineteen) metres of Horace, from the critical pen of Diomedes.
The last edition is by Bernard Junta, and there are copies of it which contain
different devices, both at the beginning and end ; and have certain other,
immaterial, typographical differences — noticed by Bandini, pt. ii. p. 149.
The second and third editions have also wood-cut frontispieces. The first
edition contains 153, (of the second, Bandini's copy was imperfect at the end)
and the third, 176 leaves. Mr. Heber possesses a copy of the third. I make
no dou!)t of there being some very few copies of each upon vellum.

Julius Pollux. Vocabularium, Gr. 1520, folio, (B. Junta.) A perfect copy should
contain 342 leaves, exclusively of 4 of prolegomena. The impression is dedi-
cated by A. F. A^archiensis to our famous Thomas Linacre. See Bandini, pt. ii.
p. 159. Mr. Heber possesses a copy of it.

Justinus, cum Flora. 1510, 1522, 1525, 8vo. (The two latter by the heirs of P.
Junta.) Tiie first impression contains cciiii leaves exclusively of 11 of pro-
legomena. Bandini observes that the elder Creveniia (Bibl. Creven. vol. v.
p. 44, edit. 1775) makes mention of an edition of Justin, of the date of 1510,
without indication of place or name of printer, which contains the lily device
of the Juntae ; but, adds the former, I never found this mark in any volume
before the Aulus Gellius of 1513.' Is not this questionable? The second
edition is noticed on the authority of the same Crevenna Catalogue. The
third has 268 leaves, besides 16 of a preface and index. Each of the two
latter contains also Velleius Paterculus ; but the third is a mere copy of the
second — of which Crevenna tells us (ibid.) ' Grasvius en faisoit grand cas.'

Juvenalis et Persius. 1507, 1513, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1519, 8vo. (Hered. P. Junta;.)
Ruperti regrets that no one has critically examined the first of these editions,
which is so scarce as to have escaped Bandini. See the Introd. to the Classiis,

SIXTH DAY.

Lorenzo. Have you not forgotten to notice the Devices ?

Lysander. True, and I thank you for the suggestion.
These devices are easily dispatched. The oldest of them, I
think, is the simple Jleur-de-lis, thus — or often larger : and
generally in red.

Books pRiNTiiD Bv TiiiiGiUNTi.
vol. ii. p. 26. I am unable to mention either the editor or the arrangement of
the contents of the volume. Let the curious look sharply after it. The editor
of the second edition (and perhaps of the third) was Marianus Tuccius,
whose dedicatory epistle to A. F. Albizius precedes the text — which contains,
according to Bandini, 80 leaves. The third edition has the same number of
leaves, with an address of ' the Poet to the Reader.' See Bandini, pt. ii.
p. 48, p. 138. Mr. Grenville possesses a copy of the second, and Mr. Heber
one of the third edition.

Lactantius. 1513, 8vo. (P. Junta.) There are 302 leaves of text, preceded by
8 of prolegomena. The Riccardi collection possesses a copy upon vellum.
The editor was Tuccius. In the same year the ' Apologeticus adversus
Gentes' of Lactantius was published separately, containing 47 leaves without
preface. The ' Divinar. Institut. libr. vii.' form the chief contents.

Livius. 1522, 8vo. 3 vols. (Hered. P. Juntae.) The first, containing the first
Decad, has 339 leaves, exclusively of 8 of prolegomena, and an ample index
of 67" leaves at the end. The second, containing the third Decad, has 321
leaves, exclusively of 8 of ' an epitome,' and an index of 48 leaves. The
third volume, having the fourth Decad, contains 276 leaves, with 43 of an
index, and 6 of an epitome. The editor was N. A. Bucinensis. Five Books
of the Fifth Decad were first printed in 1532, 8vo. containing 132 leaves.
Bandini, pt. ii. p. 227, is worth consulting.

Lucretius. 1512, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The editor was the celebrated Petrus Can-
didus, who exerted all his abilities to render justice to the text of this

270

SIXTH DAY.

Of the two which follow, I am unable to state with accu-
racy their chronological precedence : and shall therefore just
take them as they are. It must however be observed that

Books Printed by the Giunti.
distinguished poet. As far as I am able to discover, the present is the only
impression of Lucretius which appeared from the Junta printing-office. It
will be esteemed accordingly; especially if (as I have no doubt of the
existence of such a treasure) the copy happen to be ' upon choice vellum.'
The text of the poet comprehends cxxv leaves, which are preceded by viii
leaves of prolegomena, and various readings, with xii leaves of annotations
by the editor. The impression is dedicated by Candidus to Thomas Sotherinus.
Mr. Heber possesses a copy of it.

Macrobius. 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) This impression, the only one of Macrobius
from the Junta press, comprehends 278 leaves of text and 12 of prolegomena.
The editor was the indefatigable Nicolaus Angelius Bucinensis, who dedicated
it to I. Salviatus. See Bandini, pt. ii. p. 89.

Missale—per Peti'um Arrivahene, 1497, 4to. L. A. Junta. Bandini, pt. i. p. 7.

— Vallombrosale, 1505, folio, L. A. Junta. Unknown to Bandini. Consult

vol. i. p. 83-5, for a particular account of this very rare and magnificent
publication.

Romanum, 1516, folio, (L. A. Junta.) A magnificent volume.

■ 1540, 4to. (Hered. L. A. Junt.) Adorned with a great

number of wood-cuts of Saints, &c.

Officium B. V. M. Sec. Usm. Rom. 1496, 12mo. 1501, 8vo. (L. A. Junta.) The
printer of the first edition appears to have been a relation of the De Sph-as —
(' loannes Emericus de Spira.') Bandini notices a copy of it upon vellum
in the library of Aloysius Baronus ; pt. ii. p. 268. Of the second edition he
also notices a beautiful copy, upon vellum, with the wood-cut borders
illuminated.

Oppianus. De Natura sen Venatione Piscium. Gr. 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) Editio
PniNCEPs of the treatise upon Fishes. The classical reader has before
(Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii. p. 98) had an intimation of the extreme rarity
and value of this impression ; and will not fail, hi consequence, to seize every
opportunity of making himself master of such a treasure. The editor was
Bernard Junta, the son of the printer, who dedicates the volume to ' the most
learned Marcus Musurus.' There are no numerals; but according to Bandmi,
(pt. ii. 83) the impression contains from a to h, inclusively, in eights. A copy
is in the Bodleian library, and another is in the Corsini collection at Rome.

Oipheus et Proclus. 1500, 4to. (P. Junta.) Editio Princeps. This very scarce
and precious volume is fully described in the Bibl. Spencenana, vol. ii.
p. 188. Consult also the Introd, to the Classics, vol. i. p. 101. A fine copy
is in the Bodleian library. Mr. Grenville also possesses it. A second edition,

SIXTH DAY. 271

the preceding belongs rather to Luc- Antonio Giunta, and
that the following was used by his brother Philip.

Books Printed by the Giunti.
with Musceus and the Batrachomyomachia of Homer, appeared in 1519, 8vo.
Gr. having 104 pages. A copy of this second edition is in the library of Mr.
Heber.

Ovidio—Metamffrfoseos Vulgare. Ital 1497, folio, (L. A. Junta.) First published

272

SIXTH DAY.

The most imposing o£ the Juntce Devices is the following;
generally introduced at the end of their folios— not however
but that there may be more than one variety even of this
stately composition.

SIXTH DAY.

273

There is yet a different, and much rarer device, used by
the Giunti family ; and that is (in the Demetrius Phalereus,
as I remember) of a Snake rising among lilies^ having cast

Books Printed by the Giunti.
hy him in Latin m 1489 ; and afterwards in Latin in 1522, 8vo. by the heirs
of P. Junta — having 208 leaves, exclusively of 40 of prolegomena and index.
The copious prefatory epistle of C. V. Collensis is almost entirely given by
Bandini, pt. ii. p. 180.

Petrarcha. Le CoseVolgari. 1504,1510, 8vo. (P. Junta.) On the back of the title
page of the first edition, we read ' Sonetti & Canzoni di Blesser Francesco
Petrarca in Vita di Madonna Laura.' This impression contains 185 leaves.
The editor was Franciscus Alpherius, the last of the family of that name.
Consult Bandini, pt. i. p. 10, 11, &c. It is a volume of equal interest and rarity.
The second edition, which has no numerals, contains, according ' to the
counting' of Bandini, 181 leaves, and is printed in the italic letter. There
was a reprint in 1515, containing 193 numbered leaves of text, and 7 of an
index of the Sonnets. Of this edition Mr. Heber possesses a damaged and
imperfect (but by no means undesirable) copy upon vellum ; in fine old
ornamented binding. A fourth edition appeared in 1522, 8vo .under the
editorship of Bernard Junta. The title-page has, simply, the words ' II
Petrarca,' within an architectural border; and to each 'Triumph' a
wood-cut is prefixed. The text of the poet is comprised in 180 leaves. An
alphabetical index of the beginning of each Sonnet, &c. excerpts from the
ancient Italian poets, notices of errata, &c. — in 24 pages — conclude the
impression ; which is both rare and estimable. See Bandini, pt. ii. p. 175.

Philostratus et Callislratus, ^c. Gr. 1517, folio, (P. Junta.) A very desirable
edition, and by no means of common occurrence. In the whole, 54 leaves.
The editor was Bernard Junta. Mr. Grenville possesses an edition of
1536, 8vo.

Plautus, 1514, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1522, 8vo. (Hered. P. Junta;.) This edition is
dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici (the grand-son) by N. A. Bucinensis, whose
prefatory address is given almost entire (in nearly 5 pages) by Bandini. It
is in a large octavo form ; and the Grolier copy of the first edition, in hb
Majesty's library, upon vellum, is described to me as being of a beauty
' hardly to be matched.' This first edition contains 368 leaves. Mr. Heber
lias a copy of it. The second edition, put forth by the heirs of Philip Junta,
comprises 388 leaves, with 8 o^ prefatory matter and an index. The dedi-
catory epistle of Bucinensis also accompanies it, with an ' advertisement' at
the end from Simon Carpentharius. Mr. Grenville possesses a copy of this
second edition. In 1554, the heirs of Bernard Junta published a third
edition, in 8vo. containing precisely the same number of leaves as the second.
See Bandini, pt. ii. p. 64, 174.

274

SIXTH DAY.

its slough below. And now, my friends, I must not only
bid farewell to the Giunti, but discontinue all further bib-
liographical exertion . . .

Books Printed by the Giunti.
Plutarchus. Vitce. Parallels. Gr.l517, folio, (In sed. P. Juntas.) Editio Princeps.
Sufficient has been said in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii. p. 168, to induce
the classical collector not to forego any favourable opportunity for the acqui-
sition of this desirable volume. There are 344 leaves ; exclusively of the
last, -with the largest device. The Bodleian copy of this edition was formerly
that of George Fabricius ; who, from a ms. note, therein, appears to have
bought it at Padua in 1543. Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber each possess a
copy.

Poliziano Angela. Stanze di, 1518, Bvo. (B. di Giunta.) In the whole, 35 leaves.
An estimable little volume, but rarely ever found in a comfortable condition 1

Pompmius Mela. ^c. 1519, 8vo. 1526, 8vo. (Hered. P. Junta.) With Solinus,
Publius Victor, ^c. Each impression contains 225 leaves Among the MSS.
consulted by A. F. Varchiensis, the editor, was one executed in the Longo-
bardic character; but the text had been hitherto so corrupt, that it was
hardly possible to proceed with the undertaking. Let one of these editions,
perhaps the first, be selected to enrich our classical cabinets. Mr. Heber pos-
sesses the second.

Pontanus. (I. Jovianus) Carmina Amatona. 1514, Bvo. (P. de Junta.) In the
whole, 196 leaves. * Multa sunt (says the editor M. Tuccius) in his iocis ac
salibus, quos inspectums es, quae rerum novitate non facile intelligi possunt.
Haec tu in fine operis elegantissime interpretata reperies a Petro Summontio,
viro doctissimo, et Pontanicse disciplinte ac nominis studiosissimo.' Mr. Heber
possesses a copy of this rare book.

Pontanus. Opera Omnia, 1 520, 8vo. (Hered. P. Juntae.) Exclusively of the index
of the books (at the end) which has only 4 leaves, there are 272 leaves.
The preface of the editor A. F. Varchiensis is given by Bandini, pt. ii. p. 151.

Porphyrins. Gr. 1548, folio. (B. Junta). An ornamental title, with the inscrip-
tion * Publicae Vtilitati,' &c. The editor was Victorius. At page 5 the text
begins, concluding on the 129th page. Then 1 leaf Studiosis :' followed by
addenda of 3 leaves, with the imprint on the 3d. A fine copy is in the
Bodleian library, and another in that of Mr. Grenville.

Prisciamis. ^c. Opera Omnia, 1525, 4to. (Hered. P. Juntce.) The contents of this
desirable volume are specifically mentioned by Bandini, pt. ii. p. 199 ; from
which we learn that a perfect copy should contain 320 leaves, exclusively of
12 of a prefatory epistle and index. The editor was the indefatigable A. F.
Varchiensis. An epistle of Nicolaus Angelius to Hippolito Medici ' juventutis
omamento clarissimo,' is in part given by Bandini, with the prefatory address
of the editor ' to the studious.' In 1554, 4to. the heirs of Bernard Junta

SIXTH DAY.

275

Whither have I led you ? Across what * mountains and
moors,' along what vallies and glens, have you traversed !
Into what recesses — up what toilsome steeps, and down

Books Printed by the Giunti.
put forth another impression, containing, apparently, precisely the same
number of leaves.

Quintilianus. 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) The text contains 270 leaves, and the pro-
legomena 4. The prefatorjf epistle of Philip Junta is reprinted by Bandini,
pt. ii. p. 93-4, and the impression is by no means of common occurrence. It
is the only text of Quintilian from the Junta ofSce. See Introd. to the Classics,
vol. ii. p. 186. Mr. Heber possesses a copy of it.

Quintus Curtiul 1507, 8vo. (P. Junta.) On tlie reverse of the title will be found
' Endecasyllabon Petri Bargetani super Q. Curtii recognitione.' In the
whole, 164 leaves. Reprinted in 1517, containing 166 leaves. It was
translated hito Italian by Petrus Candidus, and published by ' the heirs of
Philip Junta' in 1519, 8vo. contaimng 223 leaves : again, in 1530, 8vo. by
the same ; containing the same number of leaves.

Ramusio G. B. Viaggi, 1550, folio, 3 vols. (T. Giunta.) This is the first, and
perhaps the rarest edition. It was reprinted in 1559 by the same printer, and
again by his heirs in 1563 and 1588. I know not why De Bure (vol. v.
p. 190) and Brunet (vol. iii. p, 106) are wholly silent respectuig the first two
editions. Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber each possess the third, of 1563.

Rei Rustics Sa-iptores. 1515, 4to. (P. Junta), 1521, 4to. (Haered. Ejusd.) The
editor of both impressions was Nicolaus Angel us Bucinensis. The first edi-
tion contains 359 leaves, including the prolegomena : a copy of it was ' in
the richly-furnished library of the Marquis Lucchesini,' and Mr. Heber
is also the fortunate possessor of a copy. The second edition contains
the text of Cato, Varro, and Columella in 218 leaves : Palladius in 125
leaves, and an Index of 20 leaves. The same preface, of Philip Junta,
and the same prolegomena are reprinted here ; and, from Bandini, pt. ii.
p. 171-2, there should seem to be very little additional matter in this latter
publication.

Sallustius. &c. 1513, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1527, 8vo. (Haered. Ejusd.) These im-
pressions (which were preceded by one of 1503, having 80 leaves) contain also
the Orations of Cicero against Catiline, &c. The editor of the second edition
was Tuccius ; of the second A. F. Varchiensis. The second comprises clviii
leaves, exclusively of vii of prefatory matter : the third has 144 leaves,
with 8 of prolegomena. Bernard Junta took a share in the publication of the
third edition. Bandini, pt. ii. p. 3, 46, 215.

Sannazaro. Arcadia del, 1514, 8vo. (P. Giunta.) An address by Bernard Giunta,
to the noble poet Sannazaro, (given by Bandini) precedes the text. In the
whole, 94 leaves : with the device no. 3, at the end. This edition was re-

VOL. II.

276

SIXTH DAY.

what shuddering precipices — have I endeavoured to conduct

printed, with an ornamental frontispiece, by the heirs of Philip in 1519, 8vo.
containing 80 leaves.

Sannazaro. Le Rime, 1533, Bvo. Printed by Bernard Junta, and containing
56 leaves. Bandhii, pt. ii. pp. 57, 136, 231.

Seneca TrageditB, 1506, 1513, Bvo. (P Junta.) The first edition contains 222
leaves. Bandini has given us the prefatory epistle of the ever-active Bene-
dictus Philologus, the editor, to Dominiciis Benivenius — a canon of St. Law-
rence : in which the worthy Pliilologus expresses himself quite transported
with the theological publications of the said Benevenius — especially with his
' Lamp of the Religious ' (' Lucerna Religiosoi'um ') which he is ' constantly
admiring and embracing !' Some treatises of Philologus, respecting Dramatic
Tragedy, follow this enthusiastic address. Mr. Grenville possesses a copy of
this rare work. The second edition lias 215 leaves. It seems to be a mere
reprint of the first. Bandini, pt. ii. p. 19,47. I make no doubt of there being
copies upon vellum.

Silius Italicus, 1515, 8vo. (P. Junta.) Ambrosius Nicander was the editor. The
impression is dedicated ' to Lorenzo de Medici, the Commander in Chief of
the Florentine Army and, in this dedication, Nican der seems to triumph
over the inaccuracies of his predecessors, and in the purity of the text which
he here gives to tlie public — ' proh bone Deus ! (says he) quot subdititiae
ditiones, quot mutila inhonesto vulnere carmina, quot inversi versus, carie
temporis concreverunt, quot etiam carmina desiderantur, quse vetustissimo
exemplari Roma advecto, carptim coUecta compegimus.' Bandini, pt. ii. p. 79.
This edition contains 208 leaves. At the end of the volume, just before the
imprint, we observe an Epigram of Fabritius Peregrinus. Mr. Heber possesses
a copy of it. The impression of 1518, noticed by Maittaire, vol. ii. p. 321,
is thought by Bandini to be supposititious.

Sonetti e Canzoni, &c. 1.527, 8vo. This very rare volume (of which Mr. Grenville
and Mr. Heber each possess a copy) comprises the Sonnets, &c. of Dante, of
Cina da Pistoia, of Guido Cavalcanti, &c. and contains 148 leaves, exclusively
of 4 of introductory matter. Bandini, pt. ii. p. 212, describes a copy from
his own collection.

Sophocles, cum Scholiis, 1522, 1547, 4to. Gr. (Hered. P. Juntas.) The first of
these rare impressions contains 194 leaves of text, and 4 of prefatory matter.
The editor was A. F. Varchiensis. The second contauis precisely the same
number of leaves. They are both uncommon and precious editions, espe-
cially the second ; of which the prefatory address of Bernard Junta is sufH-
ciently interesting. Let fine copies of either, (but again I must repeat, more

Books Printed by the Giunti.

SIXTH DAY.

277

wished to retread your steps, and to avert your attention
from a prospect which seemed clothed with such little
verdure and luxuriance. Yet you persevered . . .

Books Printed by the Giunti.

particularly of the second) receive the utmost care and attention by the
tasteful in classical bibliography. Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber possess
copies of both editions. Bandini, pt. ii. p. 187, 241.
Suetonius. VUcb Casarum, 1.510, 1315, 8vo. (P. Junta.") The first edition,
dedicated by Marianus Tuccius ' to the magnanimous and erudite Youth
I. B. Nasins ' contains cr.xxix leaves The dedicatory epistle is judiciously
given by Ban iini : p. 32. The second impression has, on the reverse of the
title-page, an epigram of Carolus Vivianus ' ad Suetonii vindicera :' then a
prefatory epistle of A. F. Varchiensis to Aloysius Rossius (abridged by Ban-
dini.) In the whole, 184 leaves. Mr. Heber has a copy of each edition.
Tacitus, 1527, 8vo. ' Libri quinque nuper inventi.' (hered. P. Juntaj.) A perfect

copy contains 364 leaves. The editor was A. F. Varchiensis.
Terentius, 1505, 1509, 1517, 8vo. These are the editions of Terence executed
in the office of Philip Junta. The last impression was published by ' his heirs.'
The annotations relate chiefly to the metre, with compressed remarks from
those who have treated of Comedy and of comic metre. The first edition
containsll9 leaves, besides 12 of prolegomena : and on the reverse of tlie title-
page is ' Endecasyllabon Petri Bargetani ad Terentium ;' as given by Bandini,
pt. ii. p. 17. The preface also of Benedictus Philcjlogus to Petrus Crinitus is
reprinted by Bandini. Of the second edition, Cardinal Lomenie de Brienne
had a copy upon vellum; which wanted, however, the Prolegomena —
and I think it was of this copy that the late Mr. Edwards spoke in such
•warm terms of commendation. The text, as before, has cxix leaves.
In Bandini's own copy, both of this and of the preceding edition, the first
leaf of the prolegomena was wanting The third edition has, like its precur-
sors, 119 leaves of text, with 12 of Prolegomena ; but, at the end, which is
not common to the previous impressions, there is a ' Tractatus de Comcedia,'
divided into xxi sections, and an ' admonition to the studious;' which latter
is reprinted by Bandini. A bad copy of the first edition, upon vellum,
•was in the Paris collection : Bihl. Paris, no. 191 ; which was sold for only
4/. 4s. Mr, Heber possesses paper copies of the second and third editions.
Testamento. II A'uoto (de Greco nuov. trad.) 1530, 8vo. The translator was
Bruccioli. The title page contains the lily, as in the first fac-simile above
given.

Theocritus, Gr. 1515, (P. Junta.) 1540 (B. Junta.) Sufficient has been said,
(Jntrod. to the Classics, vol. ii. p. 274) on the authority of the best critics, to
render these editions, especially the first, no mean acquisition to the cabinets
of the critical as well as the curious. It remains therefore only to remark, in

278

SIXTH DAY.

Lorenzo. And have been richly repaid by such persever-
ance. From Mentz to Rome, from Rome to Cologne, from
Cologne to Venice — then to the minor Italian States — again

Books Feinted by the Giunti.
the present place, that the first impression, according to Bandini, pt. ii. p. 72,
contains 73 leaves ; and the second, 78 leaves. Two prefatory Greek episdes,
by the editor Pandulphinus, which are in the first edition, are supplied, in
the second, by a Greek life of Theocritus. Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber
each possess a copy of the first edition ; and Mr. Heber has one of the
second edition. Bandini, I suspect, (at p. 234,) is erroneous in stating the
second to contain 78 pages — instead of leaves. How many pieces of gold

'would go to purchase' a \oye\y vellum copy of the first edition ?( )

Stat pretii umbra!' Mark, gentle reader, I ' do say' a ' lovely vellum copy.'

Theodori Grammatices, Libr. IV. Gr. with Mosccypulus, and the Enchirdion of
HephcEStion, ^-c. The editor was A. F. Varchiensis. In the whole, 284 leaves.
Bandmi is pai'ticularly minute, from a description of a copy in the Lucchesini
collection : pt. ii. p. 203. It should seem that Hephaestion was separately
printed : containing 52 leaves.

Tkucydides, Gr. 1526, folio. Cum Comment. Antiquis. (B. Junta.) The device
no. 2. is in the frontispiece. In the whole, 159 leaves. Each signature has 8
leaves, except A A, which has only six. A copy is in the collection of
Mr. Heber. Consult Bandini, pt. ii. p. 208 : also the Introd. to the Classics,
vol. ii. p. 292, where it is presumed to be proved that an edition of 1506 is
purely supposititious. This Junta impression of Thucydides is by no means
a book of common occurrence.

Valerius Flaccus, 1503, Bvo. (P. Junta.) Whoever shall attentively read the
account of this edition by Bandini, pt. ii. p. 7, will be convinced not only of
its rarity but of its intrinsic worth. Consult Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii.
p. 299. It is among the very scarcest of the Juntas books, and contains 100
leaves. Mr. Heber is the fortunate owner of a copy. It was reprinted in
1517, 8vo: with an epigram &c. of Bargetanus, in praise of the work, on the
reverse of the title-page. This second edition contains 96 leaves.

Valerius Maximus, 1517, 1526, 8vo. These editions seem to be precisely similar
to each other; each having 228 leaves of text, and 4 of prolegomena. Mr
Heber possesses copies of them. The first, with the same prefatory epistle,
and with the same types, was reprinted by Melchior Sessa and Petrus de
Ravanis, at Venice, in 1523, 8vo.

Virgilius. Opera Omnia, 1510, 8vo. (P. Junta.) with the minor poems and Priapeia.
Contains ccciiii pages. The editor was B. Pliilologus ; whose annotations
upon each of the books of Virgil follow his prefatory epistle to Leonardus
Dathus. It was reprinted in 1520, Bvo. under the care of A. F. Varchiensis,
containing 236 leaves, exclusively of 8 of prolegomena, and 63 of ' Analecta

SIXTH DAY.

279

to Paris . . . (for remember how you delighted us with your
account of the Sorhonne Press /)

Lysander. No more of this ' if thou lov'st me, Hal.' I told

Books Printed by the Giunti.
Virgiliana ; ' but each copy, inspected by Bandini, was imperfect. Another
edition was put forth in 1522, 4to. with wood-cuts, and the Commentary of
Servius — printed however by Gregorio di Gregori, at the expense of L. A.
Jimta — a very handsome book. Again in 1543, foUo, witli wood-cuts.
Bandini, pt. ii. p. 271.

Virgilius. Opera Omnia, 1537, foHo, (L. A. Junta.) With wood-cuts. This edition
is divided into parts ; each part having a distinct pagination.

Viti-uvius et Frontinus, 1513, 8vo. (P. Junta.) 1522, 8vo. (Hered. P. Junt.)
The first edition, which professes to be ' corrected with the utnxost attention
and printed with the greatest care,' contains 187 leaves for the first author,
and 24 leaves, with 4 of prolegomena, for 'the second : followed by an index
of 23 leaves. The work is dedicated by I. Jocundus to Julian de Medici,
whose introductory address is abridged by Bandini. The title-page has
rather an indiflferently executed architectural border. There was a separate
edition of Frontinus, in the same year, containing 34 leaves, and superintended
by tlie same editor. But let the enthusiastic admirer of a genuine vellum
Junta — of the amplest size, and in spotless condition — resort to the choice
cabinet of Mr. Dent for such a copy of this first edition of Vitruvius and
Frontinus. The Duke of Devonshire also possesses a sound and perfect
copy of this first edition upon vellum, but of inferior size. These gems
were unknown to Bandini — but how limited is the widest range of bibliogra-
phical research ! ! The second impression, put forth by the same editor and
dedicated to the same distinguished character, comprises 192 leaves for
A'itruvius, and 24 for Frontinus. I once possessed a tall copy of it, upon
paper, in fine old binding ; which was not obtained, however, without a sharp
contest with my friend Mr. Utterson — nor brought off from the field of
combat under the sum of 21. 8s. .' Mr. Grenville and Mr. Heber possess copies
of both editions.

Zenohii Epitome Proverbiorum, Gr. 1497, 4to. (P. Junta.) Editio Princeps.
This very rare, curious, and covetable volume will be found fully described in
the Bibl. Spencerima, vol, iv. p. 58. The Bodleian library has a duplicate
copy of it.

Xenophontis Opera Omnia, Gr. 1516, 1527, folio, (P. Junta.) Editio Phinceps.
Corrupt and faithless as the text of this impression has been deemed by
competent critics (see Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii, p. 345) it has nevertheless
served as the basis of many subsequent editions, and sliould yet, ' wUli all its
imperfections on its head,' fill a quiet corner upon the shelves of the curious.
Bandini, (pt. ii. p. 101 ) who consulted Cardinal de Brieune's copy, has given

280

SIXTH DAY.

you, at the beginning, that the bibhographical Panorama
placed before you was both extensive and particular : and
I was resolved, if you continued to survey it with interest,
to use my best exertions in performing the part of Cicerone
on the occasion — for

Books Printed by the Giunti.
a particular account of the contents ; which appear to occupy 190 leaves.
The editor was Euphrosynus Boninus j who, in liis preface, speaks in such
high terms of the spirit, zeal, liberality, and perseverance of Philip Junta —
especially in his efforts towards the restoration of Greek literature — that it
makes ones very heart ' dance lustily' on the perusal of it! Unluckily for
Junta, the MS. fi'om which he printed, although ancient, happened to be
sadly corrupted. The reprint of 1527, his heirs, is a copy of all the faults
of its precursor. Mr. Heber possesses a copy of the first edition.

Thus, courteous reader, hast thou travelled with me a long, but I trust not
dreary or fruitless, way, midst the Juntine territories. In other words, thus have
I fulfilled the promise held out at page 256, ante. Be it remembered, however,
that the preceding publications are scarcely a third of those which issued from the
Junta press : and of those, just described, tlie details are to be considered rather
as sketches than finished descriptions. Yet the material parts are presumed to be
mentioned. My guide has been almost entirely Bandini, who must be rtsponsible
for the errors committed. I might have swelled the list of repositories where
copies are to be found, by adding those in the Althorp library ; but my chief
object in view was, to give an account of the editions of tiie Greek and
Latin Classics : and nearly the whole of these, I should hope, have been
faithfully brouaht under notice. Let the collector act accordingly. The Italian
Classics also have not been lost sight of ; but why does Hippolito continue
to hesitate in gratifying the wishes of his friends and the public, by furnishing
a Guide to the choice of rare and valuable Books in the chief branches
of Italian Literature? Haym is desultory, superficial, and unsatisfactory.
Even an octavo volume, of some 500 pages, ' By Samuel Weller Singer' (I
merely borrow the 9th line in the title-page of ' Researches into the History of
Playing Curds,' <|c. 1816, 4to.) would, I am sure, be received in a manner
the most creditable to its author.

To describe, even briefly, the whole of the Junta publications would be
equally a waste ot time and of paper It remains to see how far a description of
the greater portion of the more valuable works of ' the second press in Ita r y,
after the Aldine' (so Crevenna rightly designates it) will have operated to the
expansion, if not creation, of a Giunta-Taste let the word Mania henceforth
disappear — if it must and can (isappear !

SIXTH DAY^.

281

I own the glorious subject fires my breast.
And my soul s darling passion stands confest !

You, yourselves, are the best judges with what fidelity and
success such part has been ' enacted.' See, we are summoned
to dinner !

Lorenzo. ' Unkempt as ye are,' ye shall be right wel-
come to the viands which await you. Lysander will not
only have richly earned his dinner repast, but he will re-
ceive, I am quite certain, the heartiest assurances of the
intellectual entertainment he has afforded to the circle which
surrounds him. But who Avields the bibliographical sceptre
to-morrow ? Or to whom, borrowing the ' romaunt ' mode
of speaking, do you, Lysander, throw down the gauntlet ?

LisARDo. I hold myself in duty bound to be the Cham-
pion of the three ensuing days of this Decameronic cam-
paign ; and will, in some measure, resume the subject with
which Lysander has concluded. At least it will be a more
superficial, yet not wholly uninteresting, continuation of the
same. Remember how often the Portraits of Printers have
been mentioned — and Ornamental Printing too !

Almansa. To Belinda and myself these subjects will be
infinitely more interesting ; for I own that even the Giunta
discussion, in spite of the lilies and youthful supporters by
which it was upheld, made no very forcible impression upon
my taste. . .

LiSARDo. Downright heresy ! And this, too, after the
labours of him who so gallantly displayed the banner upon
which these orna:ments were impressed ! I begin to despair
of you.

Lysander. You need not. You mistake the courtesy of
an obedient wife for the dispassionate judgment of a pro-
fessed critic. The opinion cjf Almansa is probably guided

282

SIXTH DAY.

by a consideration of the narrator, rather than of the sub-
ject narrated.

Belinda. You are pleased to be saucy and severe. But
see, another dinner summons !

LoEENzo. Away, away : settle all differences over nec-
tarines and nuts. It grows late and dark.

The following morning, betimes, Lisardo took an early
breakfast. He then retired into the Library, arranged his
materials for discussion, and, as the day promised to be sin-
gularly fine and exhilarating, he called the circle around him
at a somewhat earlier hour — in the hope of an early conclu-
sion, in order to ' taste the noon-tide air,'— while, in a strain
of good-humoured confidence, he thus began to exercise his
monarchical authority.

AB.GUMENT,

Decorative Printing: Imaginary and Authentic Por-
traits of Printers. Title-Pages : simple and ornamental.
Capital Initials. Wood-cut Portraits of eminent Characters.
Comparison between the ancient and modern art of Print-
ing. Of Paper and Vellum. Modern English Printers of
Eminence.

T is with the most perfect sin-
cerity that I acknowledge, in the
outset of my remarks, a conviction
of my inability to do justice to the
part, however trivial, which has
been allotted to me. After a
narrative so copious and instruc-
tive as the one with which you
have been recently gratified, it really does seem not a little
vain and presumptuous, on my part, to endeavour to extend
the links of so curiously a wrought chain of discussion. Yet
you will take the will for the deed ; and give me credit for
heartiness in the cause, however I may fail to promote it by
any essential effort.

All my eagerness, or rather vehemence, seems to desert
me on a sudden. I could urge enquiries, or start objec-
tions, easily enough, when the brunt of the discourse fell
upon Philemon or Lysander ; but now that I am to act the
chief part in this Decameronic drama, \ feel a sensible

286

SEVENTH DAY.

difference between my former situation and the present.
Again therefore, as a novice compared with my master,
Lysander, I must claim all your indulgence and generosity
to overlook the imperfections in what you are about to hear
as ' the oracle of the day.'

Philemon. You need not quake with apprehension.
Our brows are rather distended with pleasurable anticipa-
tion, than contracted with fastidious anxiety.

Belinda. The Ladies will infallibly take your part.

LiSARDo. At least I may rely upon the warm support of
one of them! . . .

Almansa. Make not too sure of that. I may choose to
display my Duns-Scotus powers of disputation, and thus
entangle you in subtleties from which you will with diffi-
culty extricate yourself.

LisARDo. If that be the only fearful object of apprehen-
sion, I shall undoubtedly proceed with alacrity and con-
clude with eclat. And so * to the mark at once.' The art
of printing was no sooner generally estabhshed throughout
Europe, than Title-Pages were introduced : in other words,
the building itself, however elegant or durable, was thought
to be incomplete without the appendage of a vestibule — for
such I choose to consider a title-page in reference to a
printed book. Perhaps however you would w^ish me to
make good my promise respecting Imaginary Portraits of
Printers, before I come to the illustration of Title-Pages ?

Lorenzo. If you please; for so I think you arranged
the topics of discussion at the conclusion of Lysander's dis-
course.

XisARDo. With all my heart, then. I have often been
disposed to wonder why our ancient printers, good souls, in
the very simplicity of their hearts, did not at first favour us

SEVENTH DAY.

287

with their Portraits instead of their Devices. It should seem
to have been the readier and more natural way. Yet I own,
in Germany, during the time of Fust and Schoiffher, I do
not remember that there existed any artist distinguished for
the success of his talents as a portrait-painter ; and all the
representations which have reached us, as those of the grand
typographical triumvirate, Gutenberg, Fust and Schoiff-
her, must, I fear, be classed under the head of fictitious
resemblances. Of Schoiffher however, to the best of my
recollection, no portrait has been even attempted in any
of the old bibliographical works of respectability.

The two De Westphalias* (John and Conrad) are
probably the Jirst upon record whose physiognomies have
been honestly, but unsuccessfully, executed. I say honestly;
because, as far as I remember, those portraits do not appear
attached to any publication from a different printer ; and,
where they occur, are evidently intended to be received as
the bona-fide representations of John and Conrad de West-
phalia. I say also, ' unsuccessfully because more misera-
ble performances were surely never impressed upon paper !
CoLARD Mansion is another early printer whose genuine
portrait f (at least whose portrait as intended to represent
the original) is unquestionably in existence, although it was
not till lately that we saw it introduced in the form of an
engraving. And thus limited appears to be the ancient
school of portrait-painting connected with the legitimate
resemblances of Printers. Of SwE5fNHEYM and Pannartz,
of the De Spiras, of Jenson, Valdarfer, Zarotus

* The two De Westphalia s.] Fac-similes of the portraits of the above-
mentioned ' John and Conrad,' will be seen at p. 142, ante.

t CoLARD Mansion's— genwme portrait.] This portrait is from an illuminated
MS. It was first given by Lambinet, and afterwards appeared in the Bibl
Spenceriaiut, vol. i. p. 284.

288

SEVENTH DAY.

and a hundred others — I never heard of any authenticated
hkenesses. It is with an aching heart that I make this
declaration ; and you will all, I am sure, sympathise in the
same.

Lorenzo. Most true it is, I fear ; and most heartily, for
my part, do I express such sympathy.

LisAiiDO. Now then for the School of Forgeries of
Printers' Portraits. To begin with our Caxton. Would
you believe it, a portrait of Burchiello, an Italian poet
of the xvith century, was most wickedly foisted into the
public notice by Ames as that of William Caxton .^'* Yet
Ames, on second thoughts, must not be too severely cri-
ticised. As an antiquary in the art of engraving, his
knowledge was exceedingly limited ; and it was sufficient
for him that the name of Faithorne was subscribed to a
book of drawings, in the Harleian Collection, purporting
to be Portraits of Printers — in which this identical portrait
appeared ! And so, a draped head (as the phrase is) of
Master Burchiello, aforesaid, came forth as that of the
venerable and our well-beloved William Caxton! Outrageous
scandal and reproach ! Herbert copied the head, and thus
continued the delusion. Time, however, which in the end
' bringeth all things to light,' detected the deception ; and
Caxton will in future be remembered from his printing
rather than from any genuine resemblance of his countenance.

His pupil and successor, Wynkyn De Worde, has
shared a similar fate.-f- About a month ago, in examining

* •portrait of Burchiello — 'published as that o/' Caxton.] The reader may
be pleased to consult the recent edition of the Ti/pog. Antiq. ofOi: Britain, vol. i.
p. cxxviii for some account of forgeries of Caxion's pliysiogiiomy ; and facing
p. Ixxiii of the same volume, he will liiid fac-^imiIes of these forgeries.

t Wynkyn De Wobde — has shared a similar fate, '\ Turn again, gentle reader,
for one moment only — to vol. ii. of the work twice before just referred to— and

SEVENTH DAY.

289

some of the odds and ends of my library, I chanced to
stumble upon a tiny duodecimo volume containing the fol-
lowing portrait.

You see whose genuine portrait this old-fashioned looking
gentleman's is ? That of Igaciiim Ringelbergius, of
Antwerp.* ^ No such thing,' says Master Faithorne — ' it

at page x of the article ' Wynky n De Worde,' allow the justice of the ' scepti-
cism,' advanced there, respecting the ' supposed portrait' of our W^'nk^^n ! What
I had strongly anticipated, at length turns out to be. Lisardo has shewn that
poor Wynkyn, in this respect, follows the fate of his master and contemporary,
Caxton. Consult also the note in the same page, wherein we find that the
portrait of ' Richard Johns' or ' Jones,' is only a continuation of these
• forgeries ' I may here add, what Lisardo has somewhat culpably omitted to
notice---that the portraits of Richard Grafton and John Day may be
considered by us as the earliest authenticated ones of our own printers.
* that of loACHiM RiNGELBERGius, of Antwerp.'] The fac-simile of Ringel-

290

SEVENTH DAY.

is the portrait of Wynkyn De Worde ; and so I choose to
' under-^Tite him.' What capricious impulse could have
induced Faithorne (for Ames and Herbert followed after,
as a matter of course) to substitute the head of a foreign

want of good luck in the antiquaries who succeeded, in not

bergius, above given, is to be found at the end of his ' Elegantia:,' printed by
John Graphaeus at Antwerp in 1529^ 8vo. and containing the following ' Invitation
to Youth' in the frontispiece, by a brother of the printer :

The same portrait is also contained in another treatise of Ringelbergius, which
I remember to have seen in an old volume of miscellaneous Latin tracts belonging
to Mr. Major ; and which that enterprising bibliopolist appears to have omitted
to notice in his account of the same volume at no. 1665 of the Supplement to his
Catalogue of 1816.

As to Hingelbergiiis himself, I can with safety recommend the reader to the
entertainment to be derived from the pages of Melchior Adam (Vites Eruditorum,
^c. pt. V. p. 38-39) respecting the attainments and peculiarities of this wondrous
personage. How, to say nothing of his perpetual epistles, lectures, commentaries,
&c. &c. it chanced that, in a voyage at sea, at midnight, not being able to sleep,
and finding some soldiers upon deck in the same restless or vigilant mood, he
gave his military auditors a lecture upon the motion of the heavenly bodies ; and of
the succession of the seasons, months, and days, &c. And all this was effected
with so much simplicity and perspicuity, that his auditors perfectly comprehended
the structure of the globe, &c. — ' Thus (adds Melchior Adam) coinciding with
Pliny, tliat, all time, not devoted to instruction, Ringelbergius conceived to be
lost!' This Wynkyn De Worde-prototype ' taught all the day long, from rise to
set of sun ; with the exception of one half hour devoted to his dinner.' ' Ringel-
bergium (says our Melchior, very emphatically) nihil cepit ; nisi quod divinum,
quod honestum, quod aeternura.' To foist the liead of such a sublime genius upon
the public as that of our Wynkyn De Worde ! Proh dolor — et proh pudor !

Studiose, et elegans puer.

Vis Elegantias nieras,

Quibus vel elegantior,

Vel purior, vel tersior,

Fias ? libellum huiic parvuluni

Emptum sere paruo, ter, quater

Lectura, relectum, ediscito.

SEVENTH DAY.

291

having stumbled upon the genuine print. Yet more of for-
geries connected with the portraits of our earlier Printers! . .
for you must have remembered, ere this, that the portrait of
Richard Pynson, as represented by Ames and Herbert,
is also a fictitious resemblance.* In other words, it is deci-
dedly and unequivocally the portrait of GoiiR/EUs,an eminent
physician about two centuries ago. As English antiquaries
we may be permitted to regret such bungling and barefaced
cheats ; and trust that no future Bibliographer will have the
hardihood to palm upon the public faith in like manner.
Yet there have been similar cheats practised abroad, in the
earlier annals of the press.

Lorenzo. I rejoice that we do not stand insulated in
this respect. Explain.

LisARDO. You shall hear immediately. What think you
of one Jacobus De Breda, of Deventer, about the year
1480, gravely borrowing a figure from the Speculum,
printed with wooden blocks, to represent himself !t You
seem amazed ; but have here both the original and copy —
so that you may judge for yourselves.

* the portrait of Richard Pynson — a fictitious resemblance.'] Consult vol. ii.
art. ' Richard Pynson,' p. x, for an account of this forgery. A fac-siraile of
the imposing head of Gorraeus himself faces the beginning of the ' Pynson' article.
The original portrait of Gorraeus seems to have been executed at the expense of
Andrew Wechel, the printer — according to the following lines which are sub-
joined to it ;

Indefinitum ne quid libra esset in isto
Ilium etiam pingi placuit qui ctztera piniit.

A. Wechelvs Typogr.

The same portrait probably first appeared in the Promptuarium Iconum, 1578,
4to, p. SOO ; where a brief account of the talents and reputation of Gorrseus is
added, I take it that it was rather from this print (of nearly the same dimensions
as the one given by Ames) that Faithorne made his copy.

t Jacobus de Breda — borrowing a figure from the Speculum, to represent
himself.'] It is in the frontispiece of an edition of Horace's Art of Poetry, in black
letter, 4to. without date, (formerly in the possession of Mr. Singer) that the
second of the above fac-similes, meant for the printer himself, is taken. The
original occurs in one of the cuts of the edition of the ' Speculum Humanae
Salvationis,' described in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 5.51-4.

292

SEVENTH DAY.

293

Such deceptions were by no means confined to the Low
Countries. Although the Parisian Printers have not en-
deavoured to palm upon us any of the portraits of their
more celebrated printers, yet, in the instance of one Mat-
thew BoLSEC, the ' good city of Paris ' does not escape the
imputation of forgery * Of the Stephens, it must be
regretted that, with the exception of the elder Robert, no
authenticated resemblances have reached us. But to return
to this said Matthew Bolsec — whose supposed portrait, as
you will find, is gravely subjoined to a cut, which, evidently
from its accessories, belongs to the text of some old Romance,
Mystery, or Chronicle.-|- No printer surely was ever so
clothed ! Yet, if you are partial to such popular deceptions,

* does not escape the imputation of forgen-y.'] We must however, I think,
take it for granted that the Father of printing in France, Ulric Gering,
really did sit for his own portrait : see the note at p. 23, ante. Will good fortune
ever place me opposite this highly valuable treasure? The elder Robert
Stephen, also, seems to have trod in the footsteps of the venerable Gering. Yet
Maittaire, in the copper-plate resemblance of the worthy Robert prefixed to his
Vita Stephanorum, and to the second volume of the Annales, <^c. presents us with
such a severe copy (that of the first, indeed, is barbarously grotesque) of the great
French typographer, that I suspect there has been no small deviation from the
original. The nose of Robert, to speak the least ungraciously, is hugely out of
drawing !

t belongs to the text of some old Romance, Mystery, or Chronicle.'] The repre-
sentation of Matthew Bolsec, above given, does in fact belong to an edition, in
Greek, of the ' Gnomolngia, sea Moralium Sententiarum Collectanea, 1512,' 4to,
and was first pointed out to me by Mr. Evans among the books forming the
second set of duplicates belonging to his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, which
were sold in the early part of 1816. The colophon of the printer, on the recto
of fiiij, (second set of signatures) is thus: ' Imposita suprema manus huic aureo
labro impensis Matthai Bolseci Biblhipola parisiensis Millesimo quingentesimo
duodecimo, vndecimo Calcdas lanuarias.' This copy was purchased at the sale of
these duplicates for a few shillings. It had been the late Bishop of Ely's, as
early as the year 1770 ; but was an indifferent copy. I fully coincide with
Lisardo in attributing the original of this ' would-be' portrait of Bolsec, to an
engraving illustrative of some ' Romance, Mystery, or Chronicle.'

294

SEVENTH DAY.

let the following irradiated, and ermine-clad figure pass for
a whole-length portrait of Master Matthew Bolsec.

iMMHIEWBOISEC

A more elegant whole-length representation of a distin-
guished printer, Nicholas Le Rouge, occurs at the end of
that extraordinarily curious book, to which I believe some
allusion was made by Philemon in his discourse of the
Second Day. Let us consider it as a genuine portrait,* if

* consider it as a genuine poi-traitJ] A full and particular account of the \ery
rare and curious publication, from which the above portrait is taken, will be found
in the first volume of this work, at pages 88 -9, note *. Yet the fastidious critic,
remembering the introduction of two portraits in an illuminated Missal (noticed
in the First Day of this work) as those of the Patron, may, possibly, think the
above kneeling figure to be a resemblance of the Author, rather than of the
Printer, of the book in question.

SEVENTH DAY.

295

you please ; and congratulate the original upon having such
a worthy representation of himself to go down to posterity.

But no Printer, with whom I happen to be acquainted,
ever chose to select a more curious figure, as a portrait of
himself, than did Master Thomas Wolf, of Basle.* Look at

* Master Thomas Woi,f, of Basle.] The work, from which the ensuing portrait
of Master Thomas Wolf is taken, is an edition of Silius Italicus, printed by him
in the Italic type at Basle, in 1522, 8vo. and of which my friend Dr. Stock of
Clifton possesses a very covetable copy. A thoroughly-bitten Grangerite had the
temerity, I believe, to offer a guinea for this very portrait! Let us say another
word or two respecting this droll typographical personage. He chose to introduce

VOL. II. T

2% SEVENTH DAY.

the extraordinary manner in which he comes forward to
claim your especial attention !

Digito compesce labellum

THOMAS VOLFIVS

the same portrait of himself in a medical ti'eatise of Peter Brissotus, printed by
him in 1529, 8vo. On the right-hand side of it, is the following Greek inscription :

At hottom :

BasileiE. In ledibus
Thomcc VVolffij.

M . D . XXIX

The same genius printed a beautiful edition of the well-known Hortulus AnimtB,
in 1522, 8vo. (see vol. i. p. 57-69) in the Italic type, with pretty wood-cuts, in
red and black printing. The frontispiece, of ' Christ striking the bell of a clock,'
is airious— and much preferable, in point of art, to the other embellishments in
the volume. His device, of griffins, is at the end ; somewhat barbarously exe-
cuted. ' A fine and large copy' of this edition of T. Wolf, is marked at ll. Is. in
Mr. Major's Supplement to his Catalogue of 1816. I have no hesitation, how-
ever, ui pronouncing the supposed portrait of T. Wolf to be an embellishment

SEVENTH DAY.

297

To the honour however of the Printers of Basle, be it
spoken, they did not generally adopt so whimsical, and let
me add, so deceitful, a system ; for Froben and Oporinus,*
as you were but yesterday convinced, gave themselves to
the public in the very garb, and with the precise physio-
gnomies, with which art and nature had adorned them ; and
the Alduses at Venice, you may also remember, cannot be
reproached with a similar dereliction of truth. Perhaps the
foregoing will suffice as they respect the more ancient imi-
tations, or adaptations, of the physiognomies of Printers.
Indeed I fear they must ; as my range of research, upon this
head, has been of limited extent. There are, I know, in
foreign publications, fine copper-plate resemblances of some
of the printers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,
but with these our discussion has no connection : my chief
object being to say a few words upon the whimsicality of
the more ancient representations.

Lorenzo. Proceed now, if you please, with your biblio-
graphical vestibule, or Title-Pages to Books — as you desig-
nated them sometime ago.

LisARDo. With all my heart. First then, be it known,
that the earliest-printed books — by which I mean those
executed from the earliest period of the invention of the art —
to the year 1480, or even 1485, are, generally speaking,
destitute of this vestibule-like decoration. Nearly the whole
of Caxton's books, down to the latest year of his printing,
are divested of them ;-f- and it has often made my heart

from the body of the text of some previous publication. Would any man suffer
liimself to be delineated in such a theatrical and coxcomical attitude ? I think not,
if he possess his sober senses.

* Feoben and Oporinus.] See pages 175, 182, ante.

+ Nearly the whole of Carton's books — are divested of themJ] Perhaps Lisardo
might have said as safely that the -whole of Caxton's books are ' absolutely'

298

SEVENTH DAY.

merry, on seeing, in a public-auction room, the uninstructed
collector, or unfledged bibliographical antiquary, (if you
will permit such a simile) exploring, with a curious and
anxious eye, the fly-leaf, or the few previous leaves, for this
said title-page ! Yet more merrily hath my heart danced
when I have seen a solemn declaration, in a bookseller's
catalogue, that such a copy ' appears to be perfect with the
exception of the title-page' — when this said ' copy,' perad-
venture, was printed as early as the year 1470 !

If you ask me at what precise period these title-pages
were regularly adopted, I should be at a loss for an imme-
diate, or perhaps satisfactory, answer ; — yet let us, roundly
speaking, consider them as of the date of 1485 or 1488.*
This, I think, is quite early enough. Mark now, my
amiable auditors, mark the modest manner in which these
titles were introduced ! A simple line, or a line and a half, or
perchance some three or four lines, lozenge-wise — rather
towards the top of the page — these constituted the unaf-
fected simplicity of the Tuscan Book- Vestibules of the period
of which we are discoursing. The gradation or rise towards
Corinthian fa9ades, or ornamental title-pages, reminds us of
Cowper's description of the progress of the rough tripod to
the satin sofa.

At length, however, the pubHc wished for something better

divested of them : for I do not consider the title-page to the Golden Legend of
1493, as the work of Caxton. It is indisputable that Virgil's JEneid of 1490
contains no title page ; and it may be also safely here added, that the generality
of Caxton's books begin on signature a ij.

* as of the date of 1485, or 1488.] The Lucretius of 1486 (once the darling
object of a collector's attention !) is without a title ; and so is even the edition of
1495, printed at Venice by T. de Ragazonibus. After all, I am not quite decided
whether the Lucian of 1496 (about which so much has been said in the Bibl.
Spencer, vol. ii. p. 146) originally had a title. There is no doubt, however, but
that title pages appeared before the year 1490.

SEVENTH DAY.

299

than these cold and uninviting preludes to the contents of a
printed volume. As the art became general, and as the
feeling of the miraculous effect of it subsided, it was essen-
tial to adopt some plan more captivating to the public eye,
and more hkely to obtain a better sale for the work itself:
when, about the year 1490, Ornamental title-pages were
introduced. The usual ornament, at first, was ' the Author
at his desTc : and of this description and date, I know of
few title-pages which are better executed than those seen in
the early Florentine books, from the press of Miscomini.
Take the following;* from the port-folio brought by Lysander
and myself on the first day of our Decameronic visit.

* F rom Pulci's translation of the Bucolics of Virgil, and some origitial poems
by F. de Arsochi, Benivieni, &c. printed by Miscomin in 1494, 4to. See Bibl.
Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 91. The above is the ornament in the title-page.

300 SEVENTH DAY.

Now observe how the same style of art, from the same
press, harmonises beneath the title of the work itself. Here
are two specimens of it from the same portfolio. The second
is probably the earhest of its kind.

C Incominciano alcbuni fingulari tractati di Vgho
Pantiera da Prato dellordine de Frati nainori : nuoua
mete ricorrepto dipoi che fu ftapato laprimauolta.

SEVENTH DAY.

301

DA FRATE MARCO
DAL MONTE SANCTA MARIA

IN GALLO
DELLORDINE DE FRATI MINORI

DELLA PROVINCIA
DELLA MARCHA DIANCONA FV
COMPOSTO Q VESTO

L I B R O
DELLI COMANDAMENTI
DI DIO

DEL TESTAMENTO VECCHIO
ET NVOVO

ET SACRI CANONI

302

SEVENTH DAY.

I am well aware that many of the Venetian books, of the
period of which we are speaking, exhibit stiU greater pro-
priety of decoration ; yet, as the Florentine books are rather
favourites with me, I choose to bring them forward for the
illustration of this particular subject. Nor shall Gerard de
Leeu be exempt from the merit due to him of having been
among the earlier introducers of this decorative title-page,
in the Low Countries. His reprint of the Chronicles of
England, as put forth by Caxton,* is a noble specimen of
this kind ; but he was also not unmindful of it in his smaller
publications — among which is the following ; from a duode-
cimo volume of about the period of which we are treating.-f-

* Chronicles of England, as put forth by Caxton.'\ See a description of this fine
and rare volume in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 229.
t the period of which we are treating.'] The work above alluded to is a duode«

SEVENTH DAY.

303

The very commencement of the subsequent, or Sixteenth
Century, was not perhaps so particularly distinguished for
these decorative title-pages as might have been imagined
from the previous use of them. But when we reach the year
1512 or 15 15, and so on towards the year 1520, we begin to
have specimens of them in much greater abundance : while
from the year 1520, to the middle of the Sixteenth Century,
there was scarcely any work of magnitude, especially in
Theology, which was divested of such a welcome appen-
dage. Even the Sermons of Luther,* as they were sepa-
rately published, were always accompanied by title-pages
more or less ornamental : and some of our Bibles evince the
taste and costliness of their execution in similar decorations.!

cimo, of the date of 1491, and has for title ' Dyalogus de Sene et luuene de
amore disputantibus :' by Jacobus de Reno. The cap and high plume are rather
common to the early Antwerp books ; and I have seen more than me specimen
of them on the reverse of a title-page in the publications of Godfrey Back :
with the device of whom the reader is regaled at p. 148, ante.

* the Sermms of Luther.'] I remember to have purcluised, some ten years ago,
of old Mr. Sotheby, in York-Street, Covent-Garden, a considerable collection of
the Sermons of Luther, as they were first and separately published, in the black
letter, with fanciful borders, and subjects of history, engraved in the title-pages.
These embellishments, executed entirely in the taste of the German school, were
striking and spirited ; and, considering the great popularity of the preacher, the
editions must have had a prodigious sale. Among these embellishments, however,
I was not a little surprised and amused by finding the tragical part of the history
of Pyraraus and Thisbe; which very subject was borrowed in the frontispiece of
one of the earlier editions of the Visions or Creed of our Pierce Ploughman. At
this moment I cannot with confidence say which edition ; but rather incline to
think it was the first of the Creed — considered, in ancient times, ' to have the
scarcity of a MS.' The collection of these Lutheran Sermons was afterwards dis-
posed of to Mr. R. Triphook ; and from him, I believe, they found their way into
the well-wooded and well-watered book-domains of my friend Mr. Heber.

t Bibles — 171 similar decoratimis.'] The frontispieces of our earlier Bibles,
from that of Coverdale to the royal impression of James I. are remarkable, many
of them, for the beauty and spirit of their ornaments ; and I make no doubt that
Hans Sebald Beham (see vol. i. p. 169) had frequently a hand in their execu-
tion. It is grievous, and revolting to tlie eye of taste, to see in what a murderous,
manner the grand frontispiece of Cranmei-'s Bible of l.'>39, has been copied by

304

SEVENTH DAY.

XiOBEMzo. Will you favour us with a specimen or two,
of the early part of the Sixteenth Century, even if the work
be not theological ?

LisARDO. Willingly, if you do not confine me to any
particular subject or particular place.

Lysander. You forget that the ' Monarch of the Day '
is here rendered absolute.

LiSABDO. Truly, my brave Master, both yourself and
Philemon, when in a similar situation, exercised your own
powers so very leniently, and with such an uncommon share
of moderation, that I never once remarked the despotic
power with which this partial monarchy was invested. To
proceed, then. First, receive a specimen of a title-page de-
coration, from a theological and very rare folio volume,
from the press of one of the sons of Peter SchoifFher.*

LewiSj in his English Translations of the Bible, p. 124. The original is in wood :
the copy is upon copper — this is bad enough: but there is scarcely any
resemblance in the countenances.

* a very rare folio volume, from the press of one of the sons of Peter SchoiffherJ]
In a note, at pages 12-13, ante, a slight mention is made of this ' very rare folio
volume ;' and the singular device, appended to it, is faithfully given in a fac-simile.
It remains here to subjoin a more particular account. It is a thin folio volume,
of 6 leaves only : printed in a bold, square, gothic character, with the usual
angular musical notes of the day. There is a due proportion of red ink sprinkled
throughout ; and the general eifect of these contrasted colours, upon a paper of a
tint at once creamy and uusoiled, is extremely gratifying to an eye which rejoices
in the contemplation of ' a fine genuine copy of an old book.' The full title,
which is sufficiently encouraging, is thus : ' De dulcissirao nomine Jesu. Officium.
Et quicunq; banc missam deuote celebrauerit : uel celebrari fecerit : habet totiens
quotiens a domio papa Bonifacio scdo. tria milia annonam indulgentiarum.' Below
this title, is the opposite figuhe : surrounded however by rays, which the
limits of a page of this work will not admit of being introduced. The colophon,
on the recto of the 6th and last leaf, executed in red, is thus : ' Jmpressum
Moguntie per Petrum Scheffer^ finitum prima Idus Maij. Anno supra millesimum
Quingentesimo decimo-octauo.' The shield, as before given, (ibid) is below.

One word more respecting this Peter Schoiffher, or Scheffer. It should
seem that, in his latter years, he removed his press to Venice : for, in an impress
sion of the Latin Vulgate Bible, of the date of 1542, folio, within a fine wood-cut

306

SEVENTH DAY.

Belinda. There is something really striking in this
ornament.

LisADuo. Yet it is a little Gothic or so, I admit ; and
you will find the subject in a variety of similar publications
of the period of which we are treating.

Philemon. It is constantly occurring Avithin the pages
of Offices and Hours of the same period.

LiSARDo. Very like; but I dare wager a Kerver against
a Pigouchet that you never saw the subject matter more
magnificently displayed : that you never met the Virgin on
a larger scale, or contour ?

Philemon. Perhaps so : but of a more beautiful and
comely aspect, certainly.

Almansa. The ladies are not allowed to be judges of
the beauty of their own sex ; but I could venture a wager —

LiSARDO. Be not precipitate —

Almansa. That, compared with the lovely exhibition of
the same Personage, selected for our admiration by Philemon,
in his first day's discourse —

Lorenzo. This is irregular. Excuse me, ' Lady fair,'
but we must make no comparison between the wood-cuts
of the Mentz press, in the early part of the sixteenth cen-
tury, and the dazzling combinations of colour by an Italian
Artist of the middle of the seventeenth century. Am I
in order, by this remark ?

LiSARDO. Lorenzo is not only in order, but his observa-
tion is undoubtedly just.

Almansa. I desist then ; but cannot help expressing my
gratification that so much ingenuity, elegance, and power of

frontispiece, we read ' Venetiis apud Petrum Schoeffer, Maguntinum Germanitm.'
The sombre shelves of the completely-monastic library of Merton College, Oxford,
contain a clean but rather cropt copy of this desirable impression.

SEVENTH t)AY.

307

expression and colouring,were devoted, in the early stages
of the arts of painting and engraving, to the representation
of our own Sew !

Philemon. Triumph in such conclusion as much as you
please, Lady Almansa. It is nevertheless correct.
Almaksa. I crave pardon. Proceed.
LisARDO. A courteous husband readily grants pardon for
such an offence, which
indeed would be venial
at any bar of justice.
Let us resume the sub-
ject. I told you that,
towards the year 1520,
the passion for costly
and sumptuous title-
pages began very gene-
rally to prevail. A few
minutes consideration
only would afford the
male part of my au-
dience, at least, almost
numberless instances of
such splendour of deco-
ration.* . . . But what
have we here ? A title-

* such splendor of decora.
Hon.] As Lisardo here makes
but a general observation, it is
difficult to determine to what
style of art he particularly l^^^^W
alludes ; but for a specimen of
wood-cut engraving, the reader
may view with pleasure the
frontispiece to the ' Sumraa
Predicationum loannis de Prn-
myard' — in the style of that

308

SEVENTH DAY.

page of the Polygraphy of Tnihemms, executed at Paris
in the year 1518, surrounded by an elaborate border — of
which the preceding part only may be especially noticed.
The central compartment furnishes us with the follow-
ing representation of the author, Trithemius, presenting
his work to Pope Leo X. The effect of this central
piece is not a little spirited and bold. Upon the whole, how-
ever, such effect is rather pleasing to the eye of a con-
noisseur.

SEVENTH DAY.

309

While we are upon the subject of introducing authors'
portraits in the frontispieces or title-pages of books, let me
carry you a httle onwards in the Sixteenth Century ; and
taking you, with the rapidity of an arrow, from France to
England, suffer me to draw your attention to the following
very interesting subject of honest old John Bale present-
ing his Account of British Writers to the youthful monarch
Edward VI. It is the frst edition of the work ;* and
there really does seem such a genuine air, or appearance of
truth, about it, that I am compelled to rank it among the
legitimate performances of its kind.

310

SEVENTH DAY.

Lorenzo. I own there is something both curious and
prepossessing in such a composition ; and the background, to
my eye, seems also a faithful resemblance of the original.

Lysandeb. Beyond a doubt. It was the usual furniture
of the bettermost rooms at the period to which it relates. I
take the workmanship, however, of this wood-cut to be
decidedly foreign ?

Philemon. There can be no question, I think, upon that
point ; which indeed equally applies to almost all the por-
traits both of Bale and of his monarchical Patron. Have you
nothing now, by way of contrast, or even by way of summing
up in a striking manner, to exhibit respecting Title-Pages
executed in Italy ? Where are the boasts of the Aldine,
Giunti, or Gioliti * Presses ?

to Coverdale's Bible ; and of both of which it is not improbable that Hans
Sebald Beham, or Springinklee, was the engraver. Nor must the beautiful and
elaborate frontispiece of Szegedinus's ' Theologian Sincem Loci Cmnmunes,'
printed at Basil by Wildkirchius and Episcopius, in 1597 (it having previously
appeared in the Commentaries upon the Gospel of St. John by N. Hemmingius,
from the press of Wildkirchius alone) be forgotten by the graphic antiquary. Yet
an earlier, and not less elaborate title-page, from the press of Valentine Curio
(see page 188, ante) at Basil, in 1532, appears in the Cornucopia of Perottus ;
which indeed is most admirably executed, and resembles, in part, the title-page
to the third edition of Erasmus's Greek Testament of 1522 : of which latter see
somewhat in vol. i. p. 235. Let us not however forget the skill of Plantin in the
management of a title-page : consult, p. 156, ante.

* the first edition, of the work.'] This edition is a small quarto volume, and was
published at Ipswic^i in 1548, under the title of ' Illustrium Maioris Britanniee
Scriptorum, &c. &6. See the Bibliomania, p. 41. The frontispiece of it is as
above given, and has considerable merit. There is, some few leaves onwards
from the title, another representation, in small, of the same subject; but miser-
ably mean and worthless compared with its precursor. The above fac-simile
was taken from a remarkably good copy of the book (in general, in very sombre

condition, and wretchedly printed) in the possession of Messrs. I. and A. Arch

bound in russia, and marked at 2f. 2s. Mr. Grenville, if I remember rightly, has
also a very favourable impression of the cut in his copy of the same edition,

* the Aldine, Giunti, or Giolito presses?} Philemon seems to me to be a little
unconscionable in this sweeping interrogatory. A volume of some good 200

SEVENTH DAY.

311

LiSARDO. Ask me, rather, where is the square foot of
ground in SaUsbury Plain, which the meridian Sun, after
he has entered Cancer, (as the astronomer's designate the
summer-solstice) doth not illumine with his rajs ? No such
spot can be found. So of the decorative volumes of the
great names you have just mentioned; names, which have
been rendered doubly dear and illustrious to me since I have
heard them so copiously descanted upon by Lysander. Of
these printers then, I say, where is the well-chosen library,
which, upon careful examination, doth not afford some few
dozen exquisite specimens of the taste, especially in the title-
pages, with which their publications are * got up ? None
such, I trust, are known to the circle around me. But I will
answer Philemon's question more directly, and in such
answer, endeavour to ' sum up with eclat '--as he is pleased
to bespeak such a peroration. Lysander, if you remember,
shewed us a lovely little bit, containing the GioUto-Eagle,
in the centre of an ornament forming the greater part of
the title-page of one of the Giolito pubKcations . . . But will
that frontispiece — will any decorative title-page — ^presume
« to hft its head' above the one which I shall immediately
place before you !.? I see that ' expectation stands on tiptoe !'
... yet I am fearless respecting the issue. Look, gaze, and
admire ! — 'Tis from Cardinal Bemho' s History qf Venice, of
the date of 155 1, * in folio ; printed by the Aldine Family.

pages, might be put forth illustrative of the taste displayed in the frontispieces of
the books printed by these eminent typographers. My memory at this moment
happens to serve me with a most admirable and elaborate border round the
title-page of the ' Quinta Classis Galeni Librorum,qu£e ad Pharmaciam spectat,'
printed in folio, by one of the Giunti, in 1576. The compartments into which *
this border is divided, are at once spirited and appropriate representations of
the subjects to which they relate : and a fine clean copy of this frontispiece will
not fail to be highly cherished by the curious in the graphic art.

* Cardinal Bembo's History of Venice, of the date of 1551.] Monsieur Renouard

VOL. ir. u

312

SEVENTH DAY.

informs us that this edition of the popular history of Venice, by Cardinal Bembo,
is ' the first, and sufficiently rare ;' and that ' there are copies printed upon large
and thick paper.' If the Cardinal had lived till the publication of this beautiful
volume, he would doubtless have had a copy struck ofi^ upon veli-um, to enrich
his own precious cabinet of Aldine bijoux. Such a copy, however, may yet be in
existence, although the author died four years before the publication of the work.
Consult L'Imprim. des Aide, vol. i. p. 263. Let us ask if the above ornament

SEVENTH DAY.

313

Belinda. We are absolutely amazed ! Nothing prettier
can be devised. It puts all modern title-pages to the
blush.*

Almansa. I had no conception of so much elegance;
and am eager for an immediate excursion to Venice. . . .

LiSAiiDo. For what purpose ? The Spirit of Paul Manu-
tius sleeps as soundly there as does his body. Venice is in
every respect ' fallen from her high estate yet the Coleti
made a noble struggle some-}- fourscore years ago to revive

be the exclusive boast of the Aldine Press ? In other words, did they first use it?
This question is put, because I find the same ornament in titles prefixed to Paulus
Jovius's History of his Own Times, printed at Venice, in duodecimo, by Walter
Scott; (Venetiis apud Gualtehum Scottum) an ancestor, I make no doubt,
(and of such ancestry no man need be ashamed — see p. 18 ante) of tlie present
illustrious poet of the same name. This edition of Paulus Jovius is executed in
3 volumes, 12mo. in the italic type, and bears date 1559 for the first— 1553 for
the second— and 1554 for the third volume. The ornament, alluded to, is about
three inches in height, and in every respect similar to the above.

* modem title-pages to the blush] There is an affectation, among the leading
printers of the present age, to be excessively plain and simple in the garniture
of a title-page : preferring, as it should seem, a Tuscan, to a Doric or Ionic, vesti-
bule for the building of the interior of the volume — (keeping up the simile of the
above ' Dramatis Personae !') Wood-cut borders (as of old) have been generally
discarded ; and copper-plate embellishments are of comparatively more frequent
occurrence. However, among the more successful exhibitions of title-pages, with
wood-cuts, the reader may be pleased to examine that to Mr. Cromek's Remains
of Nithisdale and Galloway Song; 8vo, from the design of the elder Stothard:
but then, it must be remembered, that the title-pages are upon india paper.

t the Coleti made a noble struggle.'] I do not pretend to be conversant in
the typographical productions of the Coleti ; but as Lisardo has made mention
of them, I presume the reader will not object to peruse the handsome things
which were spoken of them upwards of thirty years ago by a pretty competent
judge— of the name of Villoison. Take the following from the Anecdota Grceca,
vol. ii, p. 245-6, 1781, 4to. ' Quinque illi fratres, qui simul in sedibus paternis
conjunctissimi habitant, firmiter vestigiis inliEerent doctissimi sui patrui, Nicolai
Coleti, Nicolai filii, Doctoris, qui multa sua industriae munumenta reliquit, ac
edidit, [Here follows the list.]

' Eorumdem avus maternus CI. Joannes Franciscus Corradinus ab Allio, imraa-
tura morle praereptus, sed acutissirao ingenio et multiplici doctrina praeditus.

314

SEVENTH DAY.

the reputation of the Alduses— but Padua in the Volpi, and
Parma in her Bodoni, have recently outshone every other
Itahan city in typographical reputation.

It is needless, I submit, to continue this disquisition upon
Title-Pages to a later period ; for in the seventeenth and
following Century Copper-Plate embellishments were intro-
duced * — oftentimes rather whimsical than beautiful — and

edidit.' [Another list follows.] The vth publication of Corradinus is noticed as
the ' Lexicon Criticum, 4to. Venetiis, 1742, 4to. Opus utilissimum, nee non et
rarissimum, quo MgiAu Forcellini totius Latinitatis, &c. docte augetur.'

' Nimius essem (concludes Villoison) si omnes doctissimse illius, et de litteris
optime meritfe gent is laudes, ut decet, persequi vellem. Sufficiat indicare CI.
Ant. Coleti, Dorainici et Jacobi fratrem, et Typographum longe eruditissiraum,
qui pro ea, qua pellet, Grfficas, Latinae, Italics, et Gallicaj linguarum intima
cognitione, pro suo exquisitissimo ac limatissimo judicio, ac pro sua Italicorum
carminum pangendorura felicitate, inter doctissimos Italiae viros merito accen-
sendus est, quique Aldos Venetiis repraisentat, edidisse in 4to. Catalogo dello
storie particolari Civili ed Ecclesiastiche delle citta, e de' luoghi d'ltalia, le quali si
trovana nella domestica libreria deifratelli Coleti in Vinegia, nella Stamperia degli
stessi, l'annol779. Hie autera catalogus accuratissima et doctissima nianu confectus,
ad Historiatn litterariam multura prodesse potest, quippe qui contineat noraina
et titulos 2366. libroruni de rebus Ilalicis, qui alias vix ac ne vix quidem obvii,
a.pud eosdem Coleti venales prostant simul conjuncti pretio 2000. Zecchinorum
Venetorum, cum ducentis aliis libris ad res Italicas pariter pertinentibus, ac post
liunc Catalogum aditum acquisitis,' &c. &c.

* copper-plate embellishments.'] The copper-plate frontispieces or title-pages of
many publications, nearly throughout the whole of the seventeenth century,
display most extraordinary specimens of elaborate art. Among these, in Bagford's
collections, (Harl. MSS. 5917) I stumbled upon a very curious one— belonging
to a volume entitled ' Tabula Chronographica Status Ecclesi<B Catholica ad ami.
1614 ' &c.— which exhibits an immense ship, in full sail, foreshortened ; having
the Pope and a number of Cardinals, with St. Peter, in the poop ; and the
Virgin, with our Saviour and attendant angels, in the shrouds : the whole very
splendid, spirited, and imposing. Below, an old man is fishing:— the good
Catholics are caught in a net ; but the Reformists are suspended to a hook ! In
this human fishery, there appears the head of a swimming figure, with mus-
tachios and spectacles : but I know not who it be intended to represent. The
sharpness and severity of the features remind us somewhat of the physiognomy
of Calvin. This costly volume was published at Lyons in 1616, folio, at the
expense of Horace Cardon.' Cardon seems indeed to have been ' a fine fellow '
ill this style of publication ; witness, bis edition of the Commentaries of Cosrno

SEVENTH DAY,

315

almost at all times in a very different and less interesting
style of art. It now remains to devote the latter part of my
Decameronic efforts to a brief account of the progress of
Decorative Printing. . . for see, how beautifully the day has
turned out ! A genial air seems to be stirring abroad, as if it
were summer; and since we were wholly confined within
doors yesterday, I own I begin to be impatient for the
smell of verdure and the freshness of the southern breeze.

Lorenzo. Where would you ramble ?

LisARDo, To a thousand objects. Yet ... to one more than
another ; and I will venture a trifling stake that the whole
company support me — and that the ' ayes have it ? '

Almansa. Speak !

Lysander. Remember, however, that there be no abrupt
conclusion : no flinching from the regular and complete
exercise of your monarchical power.

LisARDO. I disdain it. But, from yonder knoll in Lorenzo's
grounds, there is, if I mistake not, a view of —

Almansa. I know : and guess to what he alludes —

Belinda. 'Tis the Abbey of St. Alban which is seen from
thence . . . and he wishes us —

Almansa. To take a ride thither before dinner —

LisARDo. Even so, ye shrewd and successful interpreters
of half broken sentences ! That abbey, ye well know, was
Caxton's rival in the press- way — Master Insomuch ! — But
we are digressing; and the monarch is, in this instance, a
woeful example of irregularity for his subjects to imitate.

Lorenzo. Let it be settled then, that, on the conclu-
sion of this latter division of Lisardo's discourse for the

Magalianus Bracherensis, a Jesuist, in 1612, folio : the frontispiece of which is
surrounded by subjects of sacred writ, in circles, of very beautiful copper-plate
execution.

316

SEVENTH DAY.

morning, the party set forward on a visit to this famous
abbey — once the sister-cradle of the art of printing in
England !

LisARDO. 'Tis decreed; and the decision will afford
fresh energy to my attempts to amuse and instruct. Of the
History of Decorative Printing something has been already
presented to the public notice;* but that ' something,'
however gratifying as far as it goes, is, in fact, ' nothing —
compared with what a more sedulous attention to the
same subject might undoubtedly produce. On the other
hand, in the present instance, I must not only be yet
more brief, but, as I fear, intrude occasionally upon the
province occupied by Philemon in his Third Day's dis-
course. The whole however, collectively considered, may be
thought to furnish something like a substratum, or ground-
plan, for the erection of a loftier and more interesting
superstructure.

The earliest attempts at decorative printing are seen in the
borders to the Jirst pages of works printed by Sweynheym
and Pannartz, and Ratdolt;-f- and in the body of the text
itself, I believe few ornaments are known before the publi-
cations in the Hebrew Language; some of which ornaments
are uncommonly brilliant and striking. See, here, what the

* already ■presented to the public notice.'] Most probably Lisardo alludes to the
' Preliminary Bisquisition on the early state of Engraving and Ornamental
Printing in Great Britain,' incorporated in vol. i. of the recent edition of cur
Typographical Antiquities, 1810, 4to. That ' Disquisition ' is capable of mucli
enlargement ; but till something more comprehensive and satisfactory appear, it
may both amuse and instruct. In bibliographical researches, the longest life is
incapable of collecting everything that bears upon the point in discussion.

* Sweynheym and Pannartz, and Ratdolt.] See note, vol. i. p. 379, p. 404.
The Sess« (of whom so much has been said in the previous day's discussion,
see p. 230 ante) began early to adopt an ornamental border round the first page
of the text of the work. Thus, in I. Baptista de Sessa's edition of the Elegantiol^

SEVENTH DAY.

317

portfolio of Ly Sander and myself contains — as exemplifying
this position ! These ornaments are of the date of I486'.*

Latini Sermonis of Datus, of 1491, 4to. we observe, at bottoifl, the following ex-
pressive representation of academical mastigophorising.

* of the date of 1486.] The lover of typographical antiquities will do well to
let De Rossi's Annales Hebrceo-Typographici, 1795-9, 4to. 2 vols, have a con-
spicuous place upon his shelves ; and if he be fond of beautiful specimens of
early art, in that language, he will not fail almost always to find them in the

318

SEVENTH DAY.

LoEENzo. Such specimens almost tempt me to become
master of the language.

Belinda. I confess they strike me as being worthy of
the sacred book in which they are supposed to have first
appeared.

Hebrew volumes of the xvth century. There is a brief, but not uninteresting,
account ' of tlie first-printed Hebrew Books,' &c. in the Essay of Bowyer and
Nichols, Appx. p. 109 ; but the mention of ornament, in these rare and precious
specimens of the art, is perhaps designedly, omitted. The above beautiful orna-
ments are taken, from the ' Machozor, seu Breviarium Judaicarum Precum,' of
the date of 1486, in Lord Spencer's library ; see the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. iv.
p. 528. Consult also the same work, vol. iii. p. 428-9, for a description of
another fine early Hebrew volume ; and p. 433 for a fac-simile of the first
SPECIMEN OF Hebbew Printing — by Conrad Fyner, in 1475. I happen to
possess a choice specimen of Froben's Hebrew printing, in De Thou's copy of the
Logica Rabbi Simeonis, translated into Latin by S. Munster : Basil, 1527, Bvo.
Tlie characters, especially of the title-page, are not very unlike those of Fyner.
I also possess a choice specimen of the Elzevirian method of printing Hebrew ;
being, I believe, a large paper copy of Isaac Abrabanielis, and R. M. Alsche-
chus's Commentary upon Isaiah; Lug. Bat. B. and A. Elzevir, 1631. 8vo. in
old stamped-vellum binding. The Hebrew types however are blunt and irregular
compared with many specimens which I have seen from the French and Dutch
printers of the same period. My memory at this moment serves me only with
the general title of a most magnificent work — printed in 4 folio volumes — of the
Hebrew Pentateuch, with a copious commentary — in the venerable library of
Merton College, Oxford. This copy is in its ancient wood and calf-covered
binding ; having the lettering of the work on the side of the first volume, written,
and secured by horn.

SEVENTH DAY.

319

LisARDO. To proceed. I must now direct your attention
to a very prominent feature in the department of decorative
printing ; and that is, (the subject of which however has been
ah-eady before the pubhc) the composition of Capital Initials:
in which we see as great a variety, and as gradual an im-
provement, as we discover in the same kind of letter produced
bv Philemon, the other day, from MS. Choral Books and
other Manuscripts of antiquity. The earlier capital initials
were usually upon a black or dotted ground,* but generally
upon the former : and upon this ground, animals, fruits, and
flowers have, as you will presently see, at least a very striking
effect. The earHer Basil-Boohs (for I love to make mention
of the typographical exertions of Basle, of which city Phi-
lemon has shewn us so many curious and amusing specimens
in the graphic art) were rather eminently distinguished for
this species of capital initial. Take the following, quite
perfect of their kind, from a volume, without date, but I
suspect not later than the year 1530.-f-

* upon a black or dotted ground.'] Specimens of a few of these capital initials
may be seen in the Bibl. Spenceriana, vol. ii. pp. 215-16 ; 301-3 ; 357 ; vol. iii.
p. 321. To these, may be subjoined the following ; being two of the capital
initials used by Ames and Herbert in their respective histories of our printing.
They appear to be imitations of some of the illuminated initials of the ear-
lier MSS.

t not later than 1530.] The ' volume,' above alluded to, is a very small quarto,
of some 26 leaves, entitled ' De Emendatione EcclesicB Libellus, a Petro de Aliaco,'

320

SEVENTH DAY.

The Parisian printers, however, carried this department
of decorative printing to its highest possible pitch . . .

LoiiENZo. Had Italy nothing previously to boast of, in her
Aldus, or other printers ?

LiSARDO. I thank you for the suggestion. Yes: Italy
had one printer, pre-eminent, not only in this, but in many
other branches of his art — and that printer was Calliergus.

Lysander. Right, Lisardo; and I reproach myself for
having omitted him in my yesterday's discussion concerning
Italian printers. You wiU however not fail to do justice to
him.*

<^c. The date at the end is m.cccc.xv. probably for m.ccccc.xv. The copy,
from which the above letters are taken, is perfectly without blemish ; and is a
choice specimen of the Basil press in the early part of the sixteenth century.

* not fail to do justice to him.1 It was certainly a culpable omission, on the part
of Lysander, to have delivered his typographical lecture without the notice of
Zachaiiias Calliergus : a printer of very considerable eminence, and to the
labours and merits of whom Mr. Beloe has done ample justice in his Anecdotes of
Literature, <^c. vol. v. p. 55, &c. Maittaire is proportionably brief, but not
unworthy of consultation. Annal. Typog. vol. ii. p. 389-90. The three grand
productions of Calliergus, in the Greek language, are the Etymologicon Magnum,
the Scholia of Simplicius upon the Categories of' Aristotle, each printed in the year
1499, and the Therapeutics of Galen, of the date of 1500. These are folio
volumes of the amplest dimensions ; and that the reader may have some notion
of the taste and splendor with which they are ' got up,' he m^y consult, for one
instant, the Bibl. Spencer, vol. i. p. 263-5; vol. ii. p. 36-7; vol. iii. p. 65-7:
where fac-similes of some of the ornaments, with which they are adorned, may
' rejoice his eye.' Yet we may notice a folio, of more slender dimensions, bound
up with the Simplicius, entitled ' Ammonius, in quinqae Voces Pm-phyrii,' 1500,
described also in vol. iii. p. 31, of the Bibl. Spencer. These four performances

SEVENTH DAY.

321

LisARDO. Greater justice would have been allotted to him
by the mouth of Lysander than of Lisardo. Yet, if I
remember rightly, Mr. Beloe, in his Anecdotes of Litera-
ture and Scarce Boohs, has devoted no small number of his
pages to paying a few handsome and well-merited com-
pUments to the memory of this illustrious printer. As it is,
therefore, consider this said Calliergus as a most enterprising
and consummate typographical artist ; and if he had never
executed any other work than his edition of the Etymologicon
Magnum, he would have left behind him a monument of
perseverance, taste, and skill, which has never been eclipsed,
hardly exceeded, by any of his contemporaries or successors.
The borders, the capital initials — ^but ' seeing is beheving' —

are undoubtedly the clief-d'oeuvres of the press of Calliergns ; and the ' Etymo-
logicon Magnum,' is probably the noblest Greek volume in existence.

I suspect that there was some ' slight skirmishing' between the rival presses of
Aldus and Calliergus, during the abode of the latter at Venice ; and I also
suspect that Aldus, in the main, got the better of his competitor by engrossing a
much larger share of business ; but it must be confessed that the private histories
of these typographical establishments is a desideratum which I fear the most
minute and successful research will never be able to accomplish. How it
happened, does not exactly appear — but after an ineffectual struggle, as I sup-
pose, to establish himself at Venice, Calliergus quitted that city and went to
Rome ; and in the year 1515 brought out his Pindar with the Scholia — which
has the merit of being the first greek book printed at Rome. See Mr.
Roscoe's Leo X. vol. ii. p. 257-8, where a fac-simile of the device (resembling the
one given in the B. S. vol. iii, p. 67) is introduced : but Maittaire tells us that
Calliergus had latterly for his device, the Caduceus of Mercury — not much unlike
that of Froben : see p. 176-7, ante. The remaining productions of Calliergus at
Rome are specified by Mr. Beloe. One thing, however, which seems to have
escaped the bibliographers, is, I submit, almost incontrovertible : namely, that,
on the death, or retirement from business, of Calliergus, the Giunti purchased his
founts of Greek type. Whoever chooses to examme the Lexicon ofHesychius, and
the Porphyrius, <Jc. and perhaps several other Greek books, put forth by the
Giunti, (see page 267, 274, ante) will discover therein the very head-border and
capital initials as seen in the Etymologicon, Galen, and other works of Calliergus.
The small Greek fount, or lower-case letter, is also similar ; for the Giunti used
two of these latter founts. Upon the whole, I would place Calliekgus upon
the very summit, or in the very first rank of typographical heroes of celebrity.
Does a legitimate portrait of him exist ?

322

SEVENTH DAY.

So take what happens to be just before us. The ladies are
to understand that this letter is intended for a Greek P.

Almansa. I admit that this is perfectly enchanting;
and should like, methinks, an alphabet of our own capital
letters with similar decorations. But I wish not to in-
terrupt—

LisARDO. As to the capital initials of Aldus, they are
not very remarkable ; especially in his earlier pieces : but in
that ever-amusing volume, entitled PolipMlo or Hypneroto-
machia — about which so much has been already before the
public — they assume at once a tasteful and striking cha-
racter; and, as I conjecture, formed the models of the
greater number of those which we see so thickly strewn
about the books from the presses of The Stephens.

Lorenzo. Can you give us any exemplification of these
Stephanine ornaments ?

LisARDO. Certainly. I have abundance of them before
me. Let me take you therefore at once into the middle of
the Sixteenth Century, and submit the following — from that

SEVENTH DAY.

323

most beautiful and gorgeous specimen of Greek Printing,
the New Testament of old Robert Stephen, in 1550,* folio.
You have, first, a rival P to that of CalUergus ; the two
remaining letters need no explanation. But admit and
acknowledge the extreme deUcacy of the surrounding orna-
ments.

* the New Testament of old Robert Stephen, of 1550, folio.] This is probably the
most beautiful volume of Greek printing which ever issued from the press of
Robert Stephen the elder; and the most beautiful copy of this ' most beautiful'
book, which it has been my good fortune to see, was the one in the library of the

324

SEVENTH DAY.

Lorenzo. They are undoubtedly of the most beautiful
character. Have you nothing else from this inviting volume.'^
It cannot fail to interest us.

LisARDo. Yes. Take a couple of specimens of the top
and bottom ornaments frequently observed, not only in this,
but in many other productions from the same press ; about
the period of which we are speaking — and which, I believe,
are common to the Stephanine publications.

Referring, however, to the capital initials of this period,
and confining our remarks to the Parisian Printers, let me

late Bishop of London, Dr. Randolph. This fine volume was purchased at the sale
of Ihe Bishop's library, by the Rev. John Sackville Bale, Rector of Whithyham,
near Buckhurst, Kent, for 51. 6s. : and well do I remember, at this moment, the
glee and satisfaction— not only with which ' tliat excellent gentleman' shewed me
the bijoux of his limited collection — but with which he induced me to spend a
long autumnal day with him, and regaled me, ' eftsoons,' in a room, (wainscotted
' temp. Car. I.') with wine which might have vied with the juice of the Soubiaco
grape ! Step aside one moment, generous-hearted reader, to look at what is written
in vol. i. p. 37 6, concerning this ' Soubiaco grape.'

SEVENTH DAY.

325

just shew you three more specimens, of less magnitude, but
of equal delicacy with those from the press of the Stephens.
They belong to a Terence of the date of 1547, printed by
David.*

Philemon. Have you nothing of Roman art ?

LiSARDO. Much, no doubt, from the quarter of Rome
may be judiciously selected : but I fear just now that . . .
yet a moment stay — Here happens to be a specimen in which
historical composition is attempted. 'Tis of the period of
which we are speaking.-f-

* printed by David.'] See page 100 ante ; where the singular device of this
printer is given.

t the period of which we are speaking.'] It is taken from a folio volume, of the
date of 1554, entitled ' lohannes Magnus : de Gothorum et Sueuorura Regibus.
Rom<B ; apud I. Marian de 'Viottis.' Mr. R. Triphook liad a beautiful copy of
tliis desirable book, in old white vellum, with gilt leaves. Is it extravagant to
suppose that some eminent Italian artist might have had a hand in the designs
for these, and other contemporaneous productions of a like nature ? Certainly,
we often discover in them traces of a masterly hand in tlie knowledge of
drawing and composition.

326

SEVENTH DAY.

Belinda. To crown the whole, let us have something
admirable from our own country, London, I trust, was not
behind-hand in this delightful branch of typographical or-
nament? . .*

LiSAEDO. I do not wish to be precipitate or unpatriotic ;
but I sadly fear that what did appear, either graceful or
attractive, in an English publication of this period, was of
Jbreign execution — as Philemon observed in his Second
Day's Discourse.
Belinda. 0 sad !

LisAKDO. True, nevertheless. I happen, however, to
have collected a very singular series of capital initials, from

* this delightful branch of typographical ornament!] Before we talk of our own
specimens, or ratlier of what were published, and not drawn and cut in London,
let us cast a transient but approving glance upon the capital initials whicli appear
in ' Deux Livres des Venins, de L'lmprimerie de Christqfle Plantin, m.d.lxviii.
a Anvers,' 4to. There is prodigious vigour and accuracy, as well as drollery, in
some of these letter-embellishments ; and the wood-cuts, throughout the volume,
are very cleverly executed. But of these capital initials, take the following— as
specimens of their general character.

SEVENTH DAY.

327

a volume of the most sombre complexion,* in black letter,
which treats of the Gospels as they occur in the Collects of
our Church-Service. I would venture to lay a small piece of
gold (now that gold is beginning to peep abroad) that some
consummate Italian Artist — without mentioning his name —
drew the figures from which the ensuing were engraved.
And remember, that they come exactly before the initial
letter, without having the same letter incorporated in the
composition.

* a volume of the most sombre complection.'] The volume here alluded to is iii
quarto, but very imperfect. It is the property of Mr. Lang, but is utterly worth-
less, with the exception of the pleasure derived from a contemplation of the above
beautiful ornaments, which are perfectly Italian ; and are no derogation even from
the pencil of Parmeggiano. The colophon remaining, is this : 'Here endeth sermons
vpon the sondayes through the whole yere.' On looking over Bagford's interminable
collection, I found (IfarZ. MSS. 5915) some exceedingly beautiful similar per-
formances ; printed however in red, and apparently belonging, from their reverses,
to Church-Service books — executed about the middle of the xvith century.

It is due to the taste and enterprise of my friend Mr. Singer, to mention, that,
VOL. II. X

328

SEVENTH DAY

Philemon. The eulogy is just. They are surely among
the most beautiful and correct of their species. I wish you
had " the twelve" at least to exhibit.

LisARDO. Be contented, my dear friend, with what is
placed before you: and let me, while we are are upon
British ground, (however occupied by foreign feet) make
mention of a particular custom, adopted in the capital letters
used in this country of the period of which we speak, of in-
troducing Portraits within the same. Not to mention the
well-known portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Earl of Leicester,
and Lord Burgliley,* thus introduced, we may take a cur-

iu his ' Novelle Scelte Rarissime,' 1814, 8vo. a veiy elegant style, of ornamental
frontispieces and capital initials was revived : some of the latter being judiciously
borrowed from tliose in tlie Aldine Hypnerotomachia of 1499. Tliere has been a
more recent attempt at the introduction of capital initials, but I think unsucess-
fully. Great effects have been wished to be produced within too limited a space ;
and the formation of the letter itself has been upon the most gigantic scale —
utterly divested of proportion and symmetry. I will not specifically mention any
publication : for there is a ' genus irritabile' ... .as well ' of poets ! '

* portraits of Queen Elizabeth, Earl of Leicester, and Lord Burghley.'] These
portraits occur in the Bible of Archbishop Parker, put forth in 1568-9, folio; of
which impression, ' published in a very elegant and pompous manner in a large
folio, and on royal paper, and a most beautiful English letter ' Lewis has a full
and particular description in his History of the English Translations of the Bible,
p. 240-257'. It must be noted, however, that these portraits are upon copper j
and of rather Brobdingnagian dimensions— for a letter.

SEVENTH DAY.

329

sory glance of the following one, of Edward VI :— found in
Recordes Grounde of Jrtes, of the date of 1582.* Admit
that there is much prettiness of effect in what you here
behold. •

Lysander. May I venture to ask whether Portraits of
distinguished Persons were generally introduced, in this

* Recorders Grounde of Artes, of the date of 1582, 8vo.] The above fac-siraile
occurs at N v, recto. In several other of the capital initials are a physician and
a man with a staff in his left hand, and a bag or basket in his right. This little
book was ' Imprinted by I. Harrison and H. Bynneman.' As it is somewhat
curious and entertaining, the reader may be pleased with the following extract-
in which the advantages of arithmetic are pretty pointedly set forth :

Maister. If number were so vile a thing as you did esteeme it, then neede it
not to bee vsed so muche in mennes communication, exclude number and an-
sweare to thys question. Howe manye yeares olde are youe ?

Sckoler. Miun.

Maister. Howe manye dayes in a weeke? howe manye weekes in a yeare.?
what lands hath your father? howe manye men doth hee keepe.? how long is it
silh you came fro hym to me.

Scholer. Mum.

Maister. So that if number want, you answeare all by mummes : how many
rayle to london.

Scholer. A poke ful of plummes.

Maister. Why thus you may see what rule number beareth, and that if number
be lacking, it maketh men dumbe, so that to moste questions, they muste
answeare inum.

Scholer. This is the cause Sir, that I judged it so vile, by cause it is so common
in talkmg euery while. For plentie is not deintie, as the common saying is.

Maister. No nor store is no sore, perceiue you this : The more common that a
thing is, being needefully required, the better is the thyug. And the more to be
desired. Sign. C ij.

330 SEVENTH DAY.

manner, in foreign publications— as it should seem, from
your statement, that such a mode of introduction was
usually adopted in our own country ?

LisAKDO. By no means. Philemon, in the third day of
his discourse, if I remember righdy, made allusion to the
beautiful portraits, cut in wood, which are frequendy seen
in the Italian Publications of the middle of the Sixteenth
Century. They are indeed eminendy beautiful — such as the
Dantes, Petrarchs, Boccaccios, Boiardos, &c. out of num-
ber : . . but among the works of the same period, abounding
with similar beautiful specimens of wood-cutting —

Philemon. I crave pardon for this palpable interrup-
tion ; but suffer me only . . .

LisARDO Philemon has a claim to every indulgence;
and I can give a shrewd guess at what is just now occupy-
ing his fancy. . . The Dantes, Petrarchs, Boccaccios, thus
cursorily mentioned, have inflamed his mind with a desire
of exhibiting . . .

Philemon. Not exactly so ; but the period into which
you have now brought us, rather reproaxihes me for having
omitted, in the Third Day's discourse, the nodce of some
very beautiful specimens, of that time, connected with deco-
rative printing — which, however, accident only yesterday
procured me in the port-folio of our Host.

Lysander. Speak ! Of what character, and belonging to
what class of books ?

Philemon. Of the very first character in point of com-
position, and belonging probably exclusively to Romances.

LisARDO. There will be no end of this resumption of a
debate, in which, to speak fairly, but perhaps a httle con-
ceitedly, ' the honourable Gentieman ' has before had his
turn of hiaranguing.

SEVENTH DAY.

331

Almansa. Downright rudeness : although Lisardo he
the monarch of the day !

Belinda. Cutting decree ! And must it be so ?

Lorenzo. The Ladies are beginning to be both serious
and melancholy. Lisardo will . . .

LiSABDO. Do whatever all, or any, may wish ! Of all
tyrannies, bibliographical despotism is one of the most
oppressive : let it not be known while I sway this Decame-
ronic sceptre !

Philemon. 'Tis nobly said. But I shall be very brief.
In the examples of the old art of wood-cutting, about to be
produced, it must be premised that the first of these beau-
tiful specimens appeared rather before, than after, the mid-
dle of the Sixteenth Century; and the latter decidedly
towards the middle — yet, for aught I know to the contrary,
they may each be of a still earUer date. What you here see
is taken from the History of the Son of Oger Le Danois*

* the History of the Son of Oger Le Damis.] The full title to the rare and
curious volume, above alluded to, is this : « L'histoire du Prcux SJeuruin, filz de
Oger le daunoys, lequel par sa piouesse conquist Ilierusalcni, Babiloiie, et

332

SEVENTH DAY.

Admit that it is full of grace and tenderness of expression.
It re-appeared in an impression of Don Flores ofGreect^
with the following scarcely less interesting specimens : un-
questionably executed by the same artist.

Nor are the accompaniments of landscape, throughout
this interesting volume, less skillfully executed. Occasion-

plusieurs autres royaulmes sur les infideles. Nouuellement imprime a Paris.' At
the end we observe that it is printed at Paris b_y Estiene Caueiller for lehaii
Longis &c. 1540, 8vo. It is in black letter ; and the cut above given occurs on
the recto of the first leaf. Every other cut in the volume is decidedly by a dif-
ferent and n)uch inferior master. The select romaunt-library of my friend Mr.
E. V. Utterson furnishes me vvith the above delicious specimen ; which, however,
is repeated in the work mentioned in the following note.

* an impression of Don Flores of Greece.l This impression is in folio, by
Estienne Groulieau, of the date of 1552. I am indebted to the choice library of
the friend, mentioned in the last note, for the specimens above selected by Phi-
lemon. The style of art in this interesting volume is not quite equal ; but upon
the whole, as the reader has abundant evidence, it is occasionally of first-rate
merit The same styles of design and execution are seen in the French version of
Sir Thomas More's Utopia, of the date of 1550, 8vo. ; and the very same cut,
given iavol. i. p. 216, from a subsequent edition of 1561i 4to. had previously
appeared in the present impression of 1552. Of the better specimens, I have no
doubt of an Italian master being the author.

SEVENTH DAY.

333

ally, also, there are sea-views, and men in armour in the
foreground — very spirited and appropriate ; while animals,
trees, and other features of landscape-composition, exhibit
peculiar freedom and power of touch. Take the following
hit as a specimen, and judge for yourselves. The monkies
are about to have exemplary punishment inflicted upon
them for some mischief, or treachery, which they have com-
mitted.

Only one more : which, although inferior in execution, is
equal in design. It is the French monarch Francis I. re-
ceiving the presentation copy of some choice composition —
let us hope,— since it is presented by female hands. You
may compare this presence-chamber-grouping with the well-

331

SEVENTH DAY.

known similar production of our Henry VIII. and his
Prelates, subjoined to the first edition of Hall's Chronicle.

I thank you for this indulgence; or rather for having
suffered me to wrest, for a short time, the Decameronic
Sceptre out of the hand of Lisardo — whom I now entreat
to resume it, and once more to forgive the intrusion.

EisAEDO. Hadst thou a score of such gems, all the
better ! Never was regal authority more pleasantly or more
salutarily diverted. I was proceeding, as you seemed to
suspect, to notice the multifarious works of Doni ; and
more particularly to commend the beautiful portraits which
are seen in his Academia Peregrina.* Do look at this ex-
quisite production. It is the portrait of Lodovico Dolce ;
and let me challenge your unqualified admiration of the

* Doni — in his Academia Peregrina.'] I scarcely know a more interesting pro-
duction, on the score of art, than the volume here alluded to. Its title is thus :
' L' Academia Peregrina e i Mondi sopra le Medaglie del Doni,' 1 552, 4to, The
first part is entitled ' Mondo Piccolo : ' the second, ' Mondo Grande' — on signature I
of which, the portrait above given, appears — opposite to an equally fine one of
Aretin : the third part is entitled ' Mondo Imaginato ; ' the fourth, ' Mondo Misto : '
the fifth, • Mondo Risibile : ' the sixth, ' Mundus Totus : ' (on the last leaf of which

SEVENTH DAY.

335

taste, truth, and power of expression with which it is exe-
cuted. Modern productions rarely exhibit such ornaments.

the head of Burchiello, foisted upon the public as that of Caxton, appears:
see page 288, ante) the seventh, ' Mondo Savio,' or Paszo : in which is a fine
portrait of Alunno : the eighth, Mondo Massimo ; in the whole, 120 leaves.
The cuts arc uniformly executed upon wood, and are of a variety of characters ; all
evidently the production of an Italian master. But the portraits are of especial
excellence, and amount to 10 in number. My friend Mr. R. Wilbraham justly
rejoices in his beautiful set of Doni's pieces, bound in orange-tinted calf, ' with
gilt edges to the leaves,' by C. Lewis.

336

SEVENTH DAY.

Almansa. Give us a score of them : they are preferable
to all the squeezed-up portraits, within capital initials,
which I ever beheld.

LiSARDO. Indeed I can do no such thing ; having been
already, I think, extremely indulgent in the variety of
specimens exhibited. And here, reverting to the point
from which we set out, let us close that branch of the
discussion, connected with ornamented capital initials, as a
most essential department of decorative printing : observing
only, by way of farewell remark, that there is scarcely
any branch of the subject of which we have been treating
more capable of being applied to apt and elegant uses. I
regret indeed, generally speaking, that it seems to have
fallen into disuse,

Lorenzo. Is that really the case ? and has the disuse of
it been gradual ?

LisARDo. Perhaps I am wrong in making so round an
assertion. It has of late been revived, I admit ; but not
altogether in the most successful manner, or worthy of the
models which have preceded. The present age seems un-
mindful of the elegant revival of these capital initials, upon
copper, about a century ago ; and of their regular use till
within nearly thirty years of our own times *

Almansa. Are they gone never to be recalled ?

LisARDO. That would be a melancholy conclusion.
Sooner let us unite the contents of our silken purses, and

* till within nearly 30 years of our own times.] Among the last specimens of this
beautiful branch of decorative printing, are the classical publications of Pine :
especially his Horace. The Magna Charta, however, of Judge Blackstone, is of
still more exquisite beauty; and the introduction of several public buildings
of Oxford, within the capital initials, was at once classical and appropriate.
The more humble performance, now immediately under the reader's eye, exhibits
an attempt to renew this interesting but thrilliiigly-expensive department of book-
decoration ! Of the success of the attempt, 1 must Iiope, rather than pronounce.

SEVENTH DAY.

337

have an alphabet or two of capital letters designed and
engraved by the first artists of the day.*

Belinda. Yet printing, I presume, has been, upon the
whole, in a progressively improving state ; and that now we
may be considered as nearly at the acme of the art.

LisARDO. Very far indeed from it ; and I will tell you
particularly why. In the first place, the age of good paper
making in this country is gone ;-|- or rather, perhaps, has
never yet arrived.

* hy the first artists the tZai/.] Mr. Douce possesses two charming folio
volumes, which formerly belonged to Tutet — and are described in the Bihl. Tutet.
no. 481, as ' Initial Letters, Vignettes, Cul de Lampes'—- containing specimens,
upon copper, of a vast variety of early fanciful performances of the character
above mentioned. Among them, is a set of initials decorated vfith the dance of
death : see vol. i. p. 41-2. I cannot however sulFer the subject of capital
INITIALS to be wholly dismissed, without calliHg the attention of the tasteful and
the curious to the very elegant and apposite decorations of this kind which were
designed by Mr. Bibd, and engraved by Mr. E. Byfield, for Mr. Gutcli's reprint
of Dekker's Gulls Horn Book, in 1812, 4to: — a work of equal singularity and
entertainment.

+ the age of good paper making, in this country, is gone.^ It may perhaps be
necessary, in the more cautious and matter-of-fact vehicle of a note, to qualify the
above saucy declamations of Lisardo. Methinks I hear the reader remind me, in
the outset, of the Bartholomceus of W. De Worde, of the xvth century — said to
represent the earliest specimen of paper-making in this country ? I I am not in-
different to the force of this interrogatory ; and, as may be seen in vol. i. p. 56,
(sign, g iiij) and vol. ii. p. 320, &c. of the Typog. Ajitiq. liave entered upon much
gossip relating thereto. But we may soberly ask, if the art of paper-making had
not left us, or was scarcely exercised, in tlie seventeenth century, (as it is admitted
' by the knowing in these matters,') wliy almost all our publications, of any splen-
dour or note, up to the middle of the eighteenth century, were executed upon
paper procured froiri abroad, and particularly from Holland or the Low Coun-
tries ? The famous Cassar of Dr. Clarke, of the date of 1712, folio, has always
been pronounced to exhibit paper of foreign manufactory. It has that quiet and
eye-soothing tint, so peculiar to the paper of the foreign books of the same
period ; and, like that of the Variorum Classics, you may give this paper many
a tug before it yields to the effort made upon it. There is a thinness, too, in the
paper of almost all the books printed in the Low Countries, and especially in
those executed by the Elzevirs, which in no respect interferes either with the
mechanical operation of the press, or the clearness and quietness of the effect
upon the eye.

338

SEVENTH DAY.

LysANDER. What mean you ?
Philemon. Treason ! Treason !

Lorenzo. Beware of the departed spirit of Mr. Whatman,
and of the hving ones of Messrs. Dickinson, and Swann.*

In respect to the tint of our paper, hear what the Rev. Dr. Lancaster (in a
letter to the Rev. Dr. Charlett) said, perhaps fifty years ago. ' I never heard
English printers blamed so much for any thing, as for their paper's being too
vehite. I have found by experience that eyes are very good things ; and yet I
will not say that I found it out first ; for they say old Friar Bacon knew it, and
even some Antediluvians lived long enough to discover it. Now brown paper
preserves the eye better than white ; and for that reason the wise Chinese write
on brown. So the Egyptians, so Aldus and Stephens printed, and on such paper
or vellum are old MSS. written : and when authors and readers agree to be wiser,
we shall avoid printing on a glaring white paper. The completest specimen of
excellent typography, in every respect, is the Louvre Thomas a Kempis, folio.'
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 723-4. However, of late years, the snow
drop has yielded to the cowslip ; and cream-coloured paper has triumphed over
white. Any thing but blue — or pink ! ' 'twould a Saint provoke.' That Aldus

should have ever used the former ! — and that should ever think of giving

such a specimen a place upon his exquisite book shelves ! ! !

* Messrs. Wjiatman, Dickinson, and Swann.] In selecting the above names,
I am sure Lisardo is above every feeling or imputation of invidious comparison.
Let Messrs. Hollingsworth and Streets, and the reputation attached
to their names, ' live (if they wish it) in description, and look green in song.'
But of the above gentlemen . . the former had long and justly enjoyed (also among
foreigners) a very brilliant reputation: the second, in the firm of Longman
Dickinson, and Co. has recently improved even upon the excellence of Didot's
machinery — and has produced a sort of India-paper- tin ted ' article' (to borrow
the current phrase) quite delightful in colour, and apparently of equal excellence
in substance. There is a story ' extant,' — not however ' in choice print' — that a
few of the principal London manufacturers of paper made a bet respecting the
production of the finest ' article' (again I speak, ' according to art') in the trade:
and who should win this bet but the house of Messrs. Longman, Dickinson, and
Co. ? ! Mr. Dickinson, who more especially directs the concern, is a smart, lively,
energetic little man : boi n for action ; and full of eagerness and enthusiasm to
shine in his business ' aut Caisar aut nulliis.' That the head of Mr. Dickhison
may not, however, turn giddy — and unpleasant results ensue — from this ' oratic
parainetica,' it may be of service to that meritorious gentleman to read, onwards,
some dozen lines or two. For Mr. James Swan, who hath the glorious distinc-
tion of furnishing paper for the Clarendon Press, I have always felt more
than ordinary respect : and I have given him, peradventure, in eraploymg his
mill for the third and fourth volumes of the Bibl. Spenceriana, and for the pre-

SEVENTH DAY.

339

LisARDO. I fear not a legion of them.

Almansa. Thou art a dragon-hke hero, my Lisardo . . .
but consider a Httle. . . .

Lisardo. I speak not without previous consideration. I
repeat it — a good fair crown octavo ream Dutch Paper, in
the time of our well-beloved William the Third, is, generally
speaking, worth an imperial ream of the time of our venerable
Greorge the Third ! — Out upon it . . , fie on half of your
fantastical scientific improvements ! 'Tis most gross . . .

Almansa. You are raving.

Lisardo. I am sane and sober. What ! to snatch, as
'twere, the Promethean torch from Heaven and apply it to
the purposes of deception ! Out, on't, again, I say . . . Fie
on your chemical experiments * . . . and do not expect

sent vxirk, more than shadowy proofs of such a disposition towards him ! The
reader shall judge whether he have not merited all that is here meant to be said in
commendation of his rags, his rivulet, his wheel, his pulp, his Didot-machineiy,
and his spacious steam-heated drying rooms !

* Fie on your chemical ei^periments ! ] Both ' loud and deep," I fear, will be
the anathemas of that eminent Castor and Pollux-chemical constellation, Sir
Humphry Davy, and Mr. T. W. Brande, on this abrupt and almost ferocious
exclamation of Lisardo. But most sure I am, when either, or both, of these
renowned philosophers in chemistry, shall happen to read what is absolutely meant
by the above 'Jie,' they will convert their anathemas into eulogies, or their ' forked
fire' of indignation into chaplets of lilies and roses. Thus then it seems to the
commentator upon the expression of Lisardo — ' fie upon your chemical experi-
ments.' The ' fie' must be considered with reference to the experiments — not of
chemistry in general — but upon paper in particular. Contrary to the good
advice of Dr. Lancaster (see the last page) our paper makers — ay, all of them,
(Mr. Dickinson and Mr. James Swann to boot) love to give what is called ' a
cheerful tint,' a white sparkling appearance to the surface of the paper": and, to
obtain this treacherous object, in goes a certam portion of muriatic acid ! And

this, added to cotton rags, plays 1 will not say what— with the ' article' so

manufactured.

Did Fust and SchoifFher, or Gutenberg, or Sweynheym and Pannartz, or par-
ticularly the two Zainers, ever thhik of such a process ? And where would have
been their books, if they had ? In a state of perdition ; rotten, ruined, irrevocably
decomposed into ' rags and tatters.' Do, pray, curious reader, when thou dost

340

SEVENTH DAY.

perfection in Printing, till the art of paper-making have
resumed its ancient and unadulterated character : till you
make paper of Flax, or at least of linen rags, instead of
spongy and base cotton : till you bruise or mash it, rather

happen to possess a good fair tome of auncient daj's, turn over, examine, consider
well the leaves of the said tome How, generally speaking, they verifjr all that
the Reverend Clayton MounAUNT Craciierode (o fxax-OtphYjc) used to say
of what constituted a sound copy — How they crackle ! How they rustle ! — not to
the breeze — for stiff indeed must be that breeze which should move them ! But,
how they talk to you ! How they invite you, by such ' small talk,' to turn them
over — and to read what is impressed upon them! Is it so with your muriatic-
acid manufactured reams ? ! Let me here a ' tale unfold :' almost sufficient to

Make each particular hair to stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.

Every one hath heard of the famous edition of Shakspcare, in imperial quarto, (of
which however, more particularly, ' anon ') printed by Mr. Bulmer : and a good
many, I verily believe, have heard of the extraordinary copy of it, in the posses-
sion of Earl Spencer, which is illustrated by drawings of the late Countess Lucan
(the mother of Lady Spencer) and bound in velvet with silver ornaments worked
with gold. Consult, for two seconds only, the Bibliomania, page 667. Of the
drawings, many, in the character of vignettes, are necessarily executed upon the
paper of the printed text. Some time ago, very many of these illuminated
leaves were discovered to be spotty and perishing. An alarm was excited, lest
the whole magnificent result of sixteen years pleasurable toil should be hastening
to premature decay. An inspection took place. Mr. Bulmer ' groaned in spirit ;'
but, undoubtedly, his friskel and tympan had been guiltless of such a fright-
ful result. The late Mr. Herring, the bookbinder, went through a long, painful,
and expensive process to obviate the effects of this muriatic leprosy — and I trust
the result will be fortunate. The very cedar and mahogany case, which was
made expresslj' for this unrivalled copy, was disposed of; and another case,
entirely of mahogany, has been substituted : his Lordship thinking that the
efHuvia of the cedar might have contributed to this calamity. So that every
chance is now given for the thousand and one years longevity of this delightful
treasure. For myself, I incline to think that the root of the malady ' sticks

deep :' and was engendered not far fi'om the banks of the river .

This is a painful chord to touch ; but, as sorrow and joy go hand in hand in
this world, we must sometimes listen to the adagio as well as to the allegro. There
are hardly limits to the discussion of injuries arising from ' spongy and base
cotton' — as Lisardo properly designates it — to which, add the mixture of
' muriatic acid.'

SEVENTH DAY.

341

than cut it, in its incipient state of manufacture ;* and till
an Act of Parliament interpose its iron arm for the effectual
suspension of all chemical process. You seem amazed ! but
these are the evils of which I complain : evils, really exist-
ing, potent, general, and destructive.

Lorenzo. I am indeed amazed ; having been perfectly
ignorant of the mysteries of paper-making. But what say
you to the Machinery of DiDOT,t in obviating a few of the
difficulties here complained of?

* ' A cbaiige has been introduced of late years (says an intelligent correspon-
dent) in the method of making the pulp into paper. Instead of the men dipping
with a mould a certain quantity of tlie pulp, and shaking it while the water
drains oil', till the fibres are interwoven so as to form a sheet of paper of defined
substance and dimensions, there are now machines, to which a regulated supply
of pulp is furnished, and they convert it into paper, which is wound olF, unin-
termittingly, upon reels. The breadth of the paper corresponds with the size of
the machines, but it may be produced of any length, and the only manual labour
now required, is the cutting it into sheets of the size wanted.'

t the machinery of Didot.] The idea of a machine for this purpose (says the
same intelligent correspondent) originated in France ; and about sixteen years
ago, Mr. Leger Didot brought to this country a very rude and imperfect model,
which after a variety of alterations and additions by himself, and English
artists, principally Mr. Donkin, engineer, has improved into one of the most
beautiful and efficacious machines that can be imagined. It consists of a very
long endless web of woven wire, which is stretched over two parallel rollers fixed
horizontally, at a proper distance ; tiiid as they revolve, and carry the wire round,
the pulp is delivered, in a fluid state, on the upper surface, at one end ; and the
water gradually draining off, it becomes sufficiently consolidated by the time it
arrives at the other end, to receive a slight pressure, and be drawn otF the wire ;
it is then received on an endless woollen cloth called fetting, and passed between
a pair of pressing rollers, which squeeze out the greater part of the water ; after
which it is wound on a reel, and cut into sheets, preparatory to being dried and
finished. — It would be impossible, without enterhig into an immense detail, to
give more than a sketch of this elaborate machine, which consists of a great
variety of apparatus, and abounds in ingenious contrivances. — The same may be
said of a machine since invented by Mr. Dickinson, which accomplishes the
same object by a method entirely different. He employs a hollow cylinder, the
surface of which is pervious, and is covered with woven wire ; and this revolves
in a vat of pulp, though not completely immersed, but by the axis, which is a
hollow tube, there is a communication from some internal apparatus to a pair of

342

SEVENTH DAY.

LisARDO. That question rather respects the process of
paper-making, than the component parts of the paper itself
I own that Didofs machinery is a vast improvement ;
because, if I imderstand it rightly, there is a simultaneous
and equable effect, or shaking, upon the whole body of the
pulp, during its consolidation into the form, or mass, which
it afterwards assumes. And then, for size — how ample !
The love-stricken damsels of modern times are probably
not aware that they may ' speed the soft intercourse ' upon
a sheet of paper, of dimensions so enormous, that, if the
weather prove insufferably sultry, it will serve the place of
a quilt or coverlid to the bed.

Philemon. O rare invention ! Would that it had been
known to the Penelopes, the Sapphos, and Eloisas of old !
What a huge ' Body of Love-Epistles ' would have reached
us !

Lysakdee. I think they are well dispensed with; and
that we have quite sufficient as it is.

Lorenzo. Order ! Both the Ladies are rising at once.
Lisardo will divert the tempest which threatens us.

LiSARDO. Silence and peace !

Lorenzo. ' By submitting they sway.' Do not however
(to resume the interesting thread of your narrative) forget
to notice that improvement in the operation of Printing,
effected by means of what is called Stereotype *

air pumps ; and by their action, the paper is formed, and made to adhere to the
cylinder, and afterwards detached from it, to an endless cloth, which conducts it
to the pressing rollers. — The pulp for this machine is much more dilated than
for any other mode of makbg paper, and therefore admits of the fibres which
compose it, being longer, which has a beneficial effect with regard to the texture
of the paper, and renders it better adapted to receive a clear and distinct im-
pression.

* what is called stereotype.'] The curious reader will of course consult Dr. Rees's
Cydopxdia for a full and correct description of the process of printing alluded

SEVENTH DAY.

343

LisARDO. You are right. Let it therefore only be known
that, by some mechanical process, the types are rendered
jirm or immoveable in filaUs ; so that when once the text

to by the word above defined by Lisardo. Let me, in the mean while, just
inform him that, at the end of Lambinet's second edhion of his Origine de Vim-
primerie, is an Histoire succincte de la SUriotypie et de ses Procidh. In this
brief history, mention is made of Ged's stereotype experiments; of which Rowe
Mores gave a particular account in his rare treatise entitled ' A Dissertation
upon English Typographical Founders and Founderies, privately printed in 1778,
8vo. Mr. John Nichols reprinted this account at the end of his Biographical
Memoirs of William Ged ; 1781, Bvo. The only successful experiment of Ged
was a clumsy Sallust, printed in 1739, Bvo.; which, even as a curiosity, is
scarcely worth retention in one's library. The Geds, both father and son,
(William and James) seem to have been smgularly unfortunate ; but I will not
take upon me to determine whether Fenner, or the Father (for the father had
made a connection with one Fenner) be entitled to all that severity of censure
which seems unquestiimably to be due to one of them. Of Fenner, perhaps ' anon.'
Meanwhile, consult Nichols's Literary Anecdotes,vol. ii. p. 721 ; vol. iii, p. 602.

To return to the • Histoire succmcte.' Mention is made therein of the
• Proc6d6s pratiques en Allemagne, en 1740, par Michael Fmickter'~and fur-
ther, of the practical experiments of Darcet, Rochon, Reth, and Foulis ; up to
the year 1780— and of Messrs. Hoffman, Bulliard, &c, &c. down to the present
time : but, as far as I can discover, no notice whatever is taken of a magnificent
stereotype impression of the Dutch Bible, in 2 volumes folio, published at
Leyden, in 1718, by I. Muller. C. Boutesteyn, and S. Luchtmans. This edition
is printed m a handsome black letter, in double columns, with marginal annota-
tions m black letter of at least three sizes smaller. The copy of it, which belongs
to my friend Mr. R. P. Cruden, has a singular acquisition of a proof, upon a
larger folio size, struck off on one side, being a duplicate of a portion of the xlvjth
and xlvijth chapters of Genesis; and havuig, entirely round the text and anno-
tations, a decided mark of the frame in which the subject matter was locked up—
or upon which the letters were cast or cut. This copy is uncut. The paper is
of a beautiful tone and texture, and may, in every respect, be considered a very
interesting curiosity ; inasmuch as it is a complete proof of the successful and
even splendid practice of stereotype printing long before it was generally prac-
tised in Europe towards the end of the eighteenth century. Lisardo, therefore,
is somewhat precipitate in telling his audience not to ' expect fine printing m
the stereotype productions.'

I cannot, however, close these brief remarks upon the history of Stereotype
printing in England, without reminding, my reader how much Earl Stanhope
has done to promote this most useful and successful department of the typo-
graphical art. The Greek Testament of Dr. Dakms, and the edition of the Bible
at Cambridge, executed on this plan, are prou4 refutations of tlie oblique slander
VOX. II. Y

344

SEVENTH DAY.

is accurately settled, they may print thousands upon thou-
sands without the loss or variation of a single letter or stop :
and for Bibles, Dictionaries, or other popular manuals, no
method can be mentioned more likely to be attended with
general utihty. Do not expect, however, very fine printing
in the Stereotype productions.

Philemon. Reverting to the probabilities of base ingre-
dients occurring in the composition of paper, it strikes me
that, in regard to the purity and soundness of the material,
a most decided superiority is obtained by having recourse
to Vellum^. . . and when I look upon a fine old Aldus, or.

cast upon it by Lisardo : while the exquisite performances of Didot, exhibited
at the recent sale of Junot's vellum library, demonstrate at once its ' capability ' of
being applied to even the most delicate and beautiful purposes.

* having recourse to vellum.} Would that this subject had not been broached !
'Enough, and more than enough,' methinks, has been already {Bibliomania,
p. 690-6) advanced upon this sheep and calf-skin theme. Little was Philemon
aware of the toilsome (the saucy reader will say pleasurable) researches which
the mention of the vellum subject calls upon me to disclose : yet why not rest
satisfied with the labours of Gabriel Peignot— and especially with his < Essai
sur VHistoire du Parcheminet Du V6lin, 1812, 8vo.— of which, clad in an apple-
green morocco surtout, I possess one of the six (only) joyous copies printed
upon large paper ! If Gobet's work (of a catalogue of upwards of 1000 different
editions printed upon vellum : see Peignot, p. 19) have wholly disappeared, we
may the less lament its loss, as Mons. Van Praet has been long occupied on a
magnificent folio catalogue of Vellum Books in the royal library of France ;
and which its learned and amiable author tells me, in one of his epistles, ' he
pursues quite at his leisure, and can speak nothing definitively as to the period
of its termination.' His liberality has presented me with three sheets of it; com-
prising pp. 221, 232, and beginning with tlie Spira Virgil of 1470.

But wherefore, I repeat, did Philemon touch the vellum chord? Had he
noticed how this chord had been struck in the poesie of ' the olden time, ' What
says ' mine auncient ' muistrel ?

There is also made of the shepes sk3'nne

Pylches and gloues to dryue awaye the colde

Therof also is made good parchemyne

To wryte of bokes and quayres many folde. Sign. B. iij.

(Lytyll treatyse of the horse, the sheep, and the goes. W. de
Worde, 4to. without date.)

SEVENTH DAY.

S45

if you please, Giunta — struck off upon this enchanting
substance — I own that a certain charm is produced which

Or, preferring the surer guidance of prose, bad lie been lounging betimes, in the
morning, with the 3d volume of Schelhorn in his pocket, reading a meagre
catalogue of the vellum books (Amxn. Lit. vol. i. p. 119) in the collection of
Raymund de KraflPt — with a note upon the rarity of vellum-printed books, and
a memorandum, from Bartholinus, (Diss, de Legend, libris. p. 95) of the copy of
Luther's Bible, at Copenhagen, upon the same material ? The answer is probably
immaterial ; but among French bibliographers, there is scarcely a writer, from
Naud6 to Brunet, who is not lavish in the specification of books printed upon
vellum. Yet why Monsieur Brunet, in the last and best edition of his Manuel,
(vol. i. p. vij) should suppress a note, respecting the number and importance of
the vellum copies introduced u» his work— which had appeared in the previous
edition (vol. i. p. xj,) — is, to my finite capacity, quite inconceivable. The
note, here alluded to, is well worth consulting upon the subject now under
discussion. Before, however, we come to the express mention of books printed
upon sheep or calf-skin, let us cast a cursory, but approving glance, upon a
representation of the method of dressing these skins~as exhibited in that pretty
and rather uncommon little book of Arts and Trades (under the title of
nANOITAIA, &c.) which appeared at Frankfort in 1568, 12mo. with cuts
from the designs of Jost Ammon.

346

SEVENTH DAY.

will be sought in vain among modern similar publications.
What things have I not heard of the Aldine Cabinet in
St. James's Place /*— to which, more than once, I think,
Lysander made some allusion in his First Day's Discourse ?

Consult Mr. Singer's ingenious and splendid volume upon Researches into the
History of Playing Cards, &c. 1816, 4to. p. 177-9 : where two other embellish-
ments, from the same amusing work, are given with equal fidelity.

♦ Aldine Cabinet in St. James's Place.} This is really opening a Queen
Charlotte-broadside upon the vellum subject : and so, having fairly got into
' the thick of the fight,' I will strive to render justice to the subject only glanced
at by Philemon, and scarcely touched upon by Lisardo. The ' Cabinet' alluded
to, is, as all the book world well knows, the property of Eahl Spencer ; being
situate at the southern extremity of Spencer House, and having a sort of semi-
circular termination or finishing. It has an immediate coimection, by a door,
with the library in which the Editiones Principes are contained ; and with which
said ' Editiones Principes,' it is not less well known, that, for three successive
years, I kept up a most intimate and congenial acquaintance. This cabinet, in its
original state, formed a part of the book-room here mentioned. It is now in
every respect more characteristic. The cieling is coved and seraircular, and is
ornamented with compartments of gilt roses. The sides, or rectangular divisions,
from which this dome-like ceiling springs, are adorned with branches of palm trees,
also gilded. Now come the more precious ornaments, in the shape of books—
premising, however, that a half length portrait of the late Duchess of Devonshire,
when a child, by Gamsborough, is placed over the entrance-door of this cabinet.
On entering, to the left, is a mahogany book-case, filled— with what, dost imagine,
curious reader? — with not fewer than fitty CaxtonsI— ' decies repetita
placebit'— FIFTY Caxtons ! ! ! Among these are the Arthur, the Recueil (French
and English) the Book for Travellers, Reynard the Fox, both the Chess Play edi-
tions, the Great and Little Cato, the two Chancers, Gower, Jason, Blanchardin and
Eglantine, and— no more! ' I'll tell no more.' This Caxtonian (not ' Phoenix')
nest, was, during the bibliomaniacal ardour of the year 1812, (being the first year
after the publication of a certain Bibliographical Romance) worth — thousand
pounds : that is to say, at least three times the ' round' number mentioned by
Shylock when he talks of ' ducats.' To the right of this cabinet entrance-doot is
another mahogany book-case ; filled—' with what, dost imagine, curious reader?'
—with nothing less than the Wynkyns and Pynsons and St. Alban Books of
the xvth century : and, among the latter, with a complete copy of the Boke of
Hawking, Hunting, and Cote Armour, of the date of 1486. (How many times
must I mention this delicious treasure ?—' A thousand,' if you please, replies ray
friend Bernardo — the commentator thereupon !)

But where are the vellum Alduses— exclaims the impatient Honorio?! All
things in due order and season— and . . . yonder, to the right of the fire place,

SEVENTH DAY.

347

LiSARDo. It has been my good fortune not only to see,
but to handle closely, the Aldine treasures here alluded to.
They deserve indeed all that can be said of them ; and

behold the vellum treasures in pursuit of ! There they stand — warm, comfortable,
upon good terms of fellowship with each other, and coated in cases of blue
morocco. Read, and go home, and despair . . . and thou wilt not be the first,
sympathetic reader, who has experienced the same melancholy sensation.

Earl Spencer's Vellum Alduses.
Virgilius, 1501, 8vo. Bound in olive colour morocco; with a portrait of Virgil on

one side, and of Aldus on the other, painted in oil, in bistre colour, by Mr.

Fuseli. This copy is indeed of extraordhiary, and perhaps matchless, beauty ;

and is described in the Bibl. Paris, no. 201. It was obtained of Mr. Payne.

His Lordship possesses the counterfeit of it (published at Lyons) also upon

VELLUM ; but it is ' sorry coin,' compared with the sterling worth o( its

precursor.

Petrarcha, 1501, 8vo. When Mr. Salvi, a very knowing bookseller of Milan, was
shewn, by me, this vellum Petrarch, he experienced a sort of sensation ap-
proaching to that of hysterics . . . not at the extraordinary splendor and
condition of this copy, but because, formerly, either Count Melzi or the
Marquis Trivulzio (at this moment I forget which) had thrown himself
upon his knees to obtain from him this identical volume ! Mr. Salvi however,
on the cessation of a few natural sighs, and after he had obtained complete
self-possession, admitted that it could not be in better company than where
it is now deposited. The binding is sufficiently whimsical. Lord Spencer
was at the head of the Admiralty when it was bound ; and a portion of a cowt-
«ims> of satin, highly ornamented, was devoted to it — with the double felicity of
an Anchor at the back ! This copy however has nothing like the amplitude of
the Cracherode copy ; nor is it, indeed, of such dimensions as the one in the
library of the Right Hon. T. Grenville : which latter merits a distinct notice.
It is bound in light blue velvet, enclosed in a morocco case ; and upon the
exterior of the binding, in the centre of the left side, is a cornelian cameo of
Earl Spencer, wrought by Marchant with consumate skill and success. This
precious copy was a present from Earl Spencer to its present owner.

His Lordship possesses also a vellum copy of the reprint or forgery of
this Aldine impression : but it is a ' base counterfeit.'

Juvenalis, 1501, 8vo. Opposite the first page of the text, there is an illumination,
exceedingly well executed, in colours highly preserved, of the poet, laureated,
driving before him, with a scroll, (upon which his satire is supposed to be
inscribed,) three men, the objects of his indignation. In other respects the
copy is sound ; but neither very large nor very white.

Martialis, 1501, 8vo. This copy has the fore-edge protected by its ancient gilt
ornaments : but it is, in other respects, not quite so white as could be desired^
It has however something of grenadier-like dimensions.

348

SEVENTH DAY.

without flattery or falsehood (for equally do 1 abhor these
twin sisters) they are infinitely beyond what any British

Earl Spencer's Vellum Alduses.

Ovidii Opera Omnia, 1502, 8vo. 3 vols. In rich old morocco binding. It is proba-
bly among the most singular pieces of good fortune, with a collector of vellum
Alduses, to obtain so complete and so fine a copy of these rare volumes as the
one under description. The condition of them is quite enviable.

Dante, 1502, 8vo. The present is what may be called, upon the whole, a resplen-
dent copy ; and the binding of it, by Herring, in olive colour morocco, such
as suits well with the condition of such a treasure. Very few finer specimens
of a vellum Aldus are to be met with.

Sophocles, Gr. 1502, 8vo. Unluckily, this exceedingly rare specimen of a vellum
Aldus is very imperfect : having only half the Electra, and wanting the whole
of the Ajaxfiagellifer. The condition of what remains of it only makes us the
more regret the want of the severed pieces. It is of such rarity, that Mons.
Renouard had no suspicion even of its existence. It was obtained from the
Abbe Celotti.

Anthologia Graica, 1503, Bvo. In fine original binding. This precious copy was
purchased of Viscount Valentia at a price proportioned to its rarity and
worth. It had been obtained by that nobleman from a library in Sicily. The
late Bishop of Ely first mentioned to me the arrival of this Aldine treasure in
London ; and I well remember the delight and even eagerness with which he
dwelt upon it — observing that, ' he would himself give some sixty guineas for
it — but I suppose (added he) that my Lord Spencer must have it, at a much
higher price, and so I yield.'

Homerus ; Opera Omnia, Gr. sine anno, 8vo. 2 vols. The first volume of this truly
valuable acquisition to a vellum Aluine Cabinet was obtained by his
Lordship some fifteen years ago. The second was procured at the sale of the
Larcher Library : as his Grace the Duke of Devonshire and his Lordship
bought the Larcher copy between them ; each of them, before, having but an
imperfect copy — and thus were enabled to render their respective copies
complete. The copy under description is in delightful condition ; and the
first volume of it has rather an interesting fate attached to it. It was the last
book which Roger Payne ever bound ; or, rather, death surprised him in the
execution of it. To commemorate such an event, his Lordship felicitously
adapted the two following Homeric verses : causmg them to be gilded, in
Greek capitals, upon the exterior of the left side of the binding. The first verse
is from the xviiith book, (v. 380) the second from the xviith book, (v. 478)
of the Iliad. They have a prefix, thus :

nAFANO^ EnOIEI

SEVENTH DAY.

349

subject. Nobleman or Commoner, hath yet brought toge-
ther in the same department of collecting. The very spirit
of Aldo Manuzio seems to breathe in that sequestered and
classically decorated Cabinet !

Philemon. Do you forget the name of M'Carthy.''

Eart, Spknceh's Vellum Alduses.

Pindanis, Gr. 1513, 8vo. This is the rare and precious volume which Count
Reviczky, during the sale of the Pinelli Library, slily took out of Lis pocket to
tempt its present Noble Owner to become a collector of fine Alduses : see
the note in Bibl. Spencer, vol. ii. p. 239. It is in extraordinary condition ;
and the skill of Mr. Herring, wlio has bestowed upon it an appropriate olive-
colour morocco binding, has redeemed it from the choking thraldom and
tawdry taste of its previous condition. A more lovely vellum Aldus can with
difficulty be conceived.

Sannazaro, L' Arcadia, 1514, 8 vo. This tall, clean, and desirable copy is ornamented,
both at the beginning and end, with an ancient illumination. It was formerly
in the Paris Collection ; and has the original and characteristic binding upon
the sides, with a modern back. This may in every respect be considered a
most estimable vellum bijou.

Cicero, De Officiis, 1517, 8vo. We have here a charming specimen of the quiet
classical taste of the buiding of Roger Payne, in olive colour morocco : and
* the condition of the copy itself is such as to ' rejoice the eye and comfort the
heart.'

Libvmio Nicolas Le Vvlgari Elegantie de Messer, 1521, 8vo. A precious little
volume : smooth and brilliant throughout. An ancient binder however has
shewn his skill in the use of the • trenchant steel' — as the late Dr. Ferriar ex-
pressed it. This copy is beautifully bound by Herring in olive colour morocco.
Poetie Tres Egregii, c^c. 1534, Bvo. This is a crept copy, and the binding of it,
in red morocco, by Kalthoeber, is not of first rate taste or skill. It is however
among the earlier vellum specimens of the press of Paul Manutius.
Such are the Aldine Editions printed upon vellum in the Library at
Speucer House. Possible it is, that the reader may begin to feel his appetite
increase, rather than diminish, respecting these vellum bijoux ; and may even
wish to disport himself yet furtlier in this membranaceous pursuit . . . The signal is
given — and the ' hunt is up ! ' Yet a moment pause. As it has never been the
■professed object of the Noble Owner of this collection to collect vellum books, we
are not to expect any thing like a Macartliy competition in the list which ' hereafter
follows.' We will first, however, beat one wood, thoroughly, before we enter upon
another .... Remember therefore, curious reader, thou art yet within the pre-
cincts of the Aldine Cabinet. The order pui-sued is alphabetical : with references
to the volumes and pages of the Bibl. Spenceriana for fuller descriptions of the
respective editions.

350

SEVENTH DAY.

Lorenzo. Rather let us just here suggest the rivaby of a
neighbouring vellum collection — belonging to a Noble
Nephew of the said illustrious character. It will be obvious

Earl Spencer's Vellum Bo6ts.

Aristoteles. 01 T12N API#(rTOT£Aoyj nspi otpsTMV xa» x«x*wv |XST(i
Tcov Ihoov TTuvv 6fsX([xcov. DAP' 112. XEPAAAju-co sv sTCifavsa-
T« T>) TToAe* AsuxsTi'a srei onto Qsoyovlag, a., (p. kQ jayjv* ^upyKKioovi.
8vo. Such is the title and imprint, within a border of coat armour, (being
those of France, with angel supporters at bottom,) of this very scarce and very
precious volume of Greek printing, upon vellum, of 7 leaves only. This copy
was formerly Colbert's : see Bill. Colbert, vol. iii. no. 16106 : where it was
sold for 3Z.15s. A ms. note of the late George Mason informs us that Fabricius
had never seen this Editio Princeps j and that the Greek dedication pf
Chaeradamus to Francis I., which follows the title, was never reprinted. Each
page is illuminated with a gilt border ; and very many lines and letters, in
each page, have the same species of illumination — after the manner of that
of a Missal. This copy, probably unique, was one of his Lordship's earliest
acquisitions. It is indeed singularly precious.

Biblia das ist Die Gantze Heilige Schrifft Deutsch D. Mart. Luthers. Luneburg.
1627, 3 vols. 12mo. These closely-printed and beautifully-conditioned
volumes have been cruelly deprived of their marginal amplitude. I do not
know that there exists a more successful experiment of close and heavy
printing upon vellum of the firmest texture and fairest tint.

Cicero ; De Officiis, De Amicitia, &c. 125 numbered leaves, exclusively of a table
of 2 leaves, not numbered. This beautiful copy of a vellum book, executed
in italics throughout, is without date or name of prmter : but I suspect it be
a production of the Giunta Press. This copy has been cropt, but it is
sound and of a fair colour.

Cmstitution (La) Franpise. A Paris, 1791, 18mo. Printed by the elder Didot
upon stout but fair vellum. This bijou is scarcely more than 4 inches in
height. In red-morocco binding.

Comazano Proverbii di Messer Ant. In Facetie. Parigi, 1812, 8vo. The editor is
Monsieur Renouard ; and the printer, Didot the elder. The vellum and the
printing are quite perfect : but Bozerain Lejeune, in the gorgeous rather than
tasteful binding which he has put it, has too much choked it. This is one of
only six copies upon vellum ; and presented to Lord Spencer by the editor.

Heures a lusaige de Romme, 1502, 8vo. Printed for Simon Vostre. A choice
copy of an highly illuminated volume of Heures : obtained of Mr. Gutch of
Bristol.

Hor<e, <^c. sec. Us. Trecen. Impesis, &c. Simouni Vostri, 1506, 8vo, See vol. i.
p. 7?. A fine aqd uncommon volume.

SEVENTH DAY.

351

that I allude to the Vellum Cabinet of His "Grace the
Duke of Devonshire. I have heard extraordinary things
of that Cabinet.

Eahl Spencer's Vellum Books.

Horte. Sec. Us. Rom. Imprim. pour G. Eustace par Nycolas Hygman. Cropt,
but in fair condition, and a very elegantly printed book.

Lm Deplaration de leglise militante sur ses Persecutions interieures, &c. Compose*
par le trauerseur des voies perilleuses. Imprimee a Paris a la rue iudas pres
les carmes. Lan mil cinq, cis et douze, <f c. pour Guillaume eustace, 8vo. In
signatures A, B, C, in eights ; and D in six. The composition is in French
verse. The usual device of Eustace (see p. 45 ante) is at the beginning ;
and a larger one, of the arms of France supported by greyhounds, (of which
I do not remember to have seen any other specimen) is at the end. The
volume was probablj' a small quarto. A beautiful copy of a very uncommon
book.

Martialis Farnabii ; Londini, excudebat Robertus Junius impensis Philemonis
Stephani et Christophori Meredith, m.dc.xxxiii. 8vo. A frightful volume !

Phaedn Fabella: Nova. Paris. Apud A. A. Renouard. 1812. 8vo, E. Typis
Crapelet. A very beautiful little volume of delightful printing upon delight-
ful velluiu.

Pindemonte Poesie Campestri del. Parma. Dalla Reale Stamperia. 1788, 12mo.
An excessively pretty book. The printing is very delicate.

Sannazaro Arcadia del. Tvtta fomita et tratta emendatissima dal Sro Originale.
Impressa in Naopoli per Maestro Sigismundo Mayr. &c. mdiiii. 4to. Con-
tains signatures A to N : in eights, with the exception of M in six, and N
with four leaves. The illuminations are elegant as well as ancient : but the
volume (bound by Kalthoeber in light green morocco) has been ' bereft of
its ancient grandeur :' and the vellum is too much soiled. This is a book of
extreme rarity.

Terentius. 1505. Printed by P. de Giuuta. This copy has not only been mer-
cilessly cropt, but the condition of the vellum is most repulsive. It is yet,
however, a Giunta Vellum.

Testamentum Novum, Gr. Lutet, R. Stephanus, 1568, 12mo. 2 vols. De Thou's
own copy — of tremendous breadth and substance! In the soundest possi-
ble condition. A very extraordinary book.

Testament Deutsch. Das New. Widerumb. 1535, 2 vols. The text is that of
Luther's version. The vellum is stout but not coarse, and the colour, upon
the whole, rather fresh and fair. In very fine condition. The wood-cuts are
spirited and numerous.

Usaige et forme quon a coustume vser en coduite de proces et iudicature de causet
(^Ancienne Coustume de Normandie,^ 8vo. A prettily-executed volume, (without
date or name of printer) in the black letter : apparently about 300 yean
ago.

352

SEVENTH DAY.

Ltsardo. Probably not more ' extraordinary ' than its in-
trinsic curiosity and worth merit : * for almost equally well

Eakt, Spencer's Veli.um Books.
Valerius Maximus. Without name of printer or date, 8vo.: but evidently a coun-
terfeit of the Aldine. Tlie vellum is both coarse and yellow.
Such is the complete set of volumes printed upon vellum 'within the aforesaid
Aldine Cabinet at Spencer House ;' where the Noble Owner himself generally
sits — regardless of all the casualties and maladies usually attendant upon the
exhibition of this Jifth symptom of the Bibliomania! See a certeine werke so
ycleped : p. 690. Now, courteous reader, art thou disposed to withdraw thy
steps from this stone njansion of ' Book-Rarities ;' or dost thou ask if there be
yet other vellum treasures — if a certain Record speak true ? I understand thee.
Thou dost wish to have marshalled, in close and firm array, a/Z the vellum volumes
' recorded' in a capacious werke j'cleped Bieliotheca Spenceriana. Is it
not so ? They are here, then, at thy beck — with references to the volumes and
pages of the said work.

Agenda Ecclesite Moguntinensis ; 1480, 4to. Thick and sombre vellum: B. S.
vol. iii. p. 146.

Antliologia GrtEca ; 1494, 4tf>. This lovely book, which had been barbarously
strangled by the binding of Kalthoeber, has been recently attired in olive-
colour Grolier-fashioned morocco binding, by C. Lewis : which has given it
both amplitude and freedom of opening. Yet who, on beholding the first
page of the text, surrounded by a classical illumination, (executed expressly
at the desire of Lorenzo de Medici, who intended the volume for a present
to his grandson, afterwards Leo X.) who, I say, does not ' heave a sigh' at
the spoliation of parts of the surface, and at the devastating progress of the
steel of some previous binder .' B. S. vol. iii. p. 3.

Biblia Sacra, Latine ; Fust and Schoiffher, 1462, folio, 2 vols. A large and
noble copy, with ancient illuminations, in a high state of preservation. B. S.
vol. i. p. 11.

— — — ■ ; Jenson, 1476, folio. Although this copy be of slenderer

dimensions than the one in the collection of Sir M. M. Sykes, and more parti-
cularly than that in the library of the Duke of Devonshire, (from the Merly
collection) it is nevertheless a very choice and desirable specimen of Jenso-
nian printing. The vellum is delightfully delicate, but sometimes too much
discoloured. The illumination, in the first page of the text, is quite trans-
porting. B. S. vol. i. p. 32.

■«■ Hailbrun. Venice, 1476, folio, 2 vols. It must be admitted that

Hailbrun has here defeated Jenson ; if neatness of type and delicacy of
vellum and pruiting be considered. More lovely tomes (which might as
conveniently have been bound in a single volume) can hardly be imaghied.
B. S. vol. i. p. 34.

* See page 362 post.

SEVENTH DAY.

353

am I acquainted with that Cabinet also. The collection is less
extensive, especially in the Aldine department, than that
of Earl Spencer; but then there are, in it, some glori-

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.

Biblia Sacra. Moravus. Neapol. 1476, folio. This copy is of ampler diraensions
than either of its biblical companions ; and is, I apprehend, a much scarcer
volume. The binding (by De Rome) is most wretched ; and too many of
the leaves have a jaundice tint. Yet who would not wield in triumph a
VELLUM Moravus? B. S. vol. i. p. 35.

Biblia Sacra. Germanice, 1524, folio, 3 vols. Was it from the sight o( this copy
that Luther resolved upon putting forth a few vellum impressions of his
Bible of 1539? See vol. i. p. 164 of this work. It must be admitted that
these volumes are equally precious and rare. The Prophets (printed after-
wards) are wanting to render the sacred text complete. B. S. vol i. p. 58.

Bonifacius. Lib. Sext. Decretallum, Mentz, 1465, folio.

, 1465, folio.

■ , Venice. 1476, folio.

To dwell minutely upon these splendid and genuine copies of a well-known

work, after the details already given, were a waste of words and a fruitless

exercise of the reader's patience. Consult B. S. vol. iii. p. 197-200.

Breviarium Romanum. Nonantula, 1480, 8vo. A volume of extreme rarity and
correspondent worth. Its condition both within and without is most desir-
able. B. S. vol. i. p. 145.

. Ambrosianum, Milan, 1487, 8vo. Of equal interest with the pre-
ceding article, and in not less covetable condition.

Cato. (Dion.) Disticha de Mo7'ibus. Without date. This precious and unique
fragment gains, in intrinsic curiosity and worth, what it loses in beauty and
perfection of condition. I am not sure whether it be not as old as the year
1450 : but read the bibliographical homily hereupon in the B. S. vol. iv.
p. 474.

Cicero. De Officiis. Mentz, 1465, 4to.

, 1466, 4to.

' All, sure a pair was never seen ' — But our theme is too dignified for opera-
tical disporting : so, anxious reader, look for three minutes only into the B. S.
vol. i. p. 304-7.

Clemens V. Constitutiones. Menis, 1460, folio. A magnificent creature! —as a
thorough -bred bibliographical sportsman would exclaim. B. S. vol. iii. p. 287.

■ , 1467, folio. By no means unworthy of its

precursor ; but this copy is not quite so tall.

, Venice, 14:7 6, folio, printed by Jenson. This copy

is however more discoloured than either Jenson or its Noble Owner could have
wished it. B. S. vol. iii. p. 292.

354

SEVENTH DAY.

ous old vellum books ! . . . such as might have served for
the pillows of the state-beds of Jenson and Verard — and
upon which those illustrious typographers might have wit-
nessed forms, in their midnight visions, as lovely as those of
the Persian Houri !

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.

Coustumier de Normandie, 1483, folio. This singular volume gains in rarity what
it loses in beauty. It is also the first edition of a work, reprinted probably
as frequently as au}' with which the reader's recollection may furnish him.
B. S. vol. iii. p. 295.

Durandus. Ration. Div. Offic. 1459, folio. What a noble volume have we here !
Search where you please — in public or in private libraries — at Paris, at
Vienna, or at London — you shall no where find a more ' magnificent creatiu-e'
(again borrowing the sporting phrase !) than the one under description. Too
much cannot be said in commendation of it. B. S. vol. iii, p. 302.

Horee ad Us. Paris. 1491, 8vo. Ad. Us. Undegaven, 1493, 8vo. Ad Us. Saris.
1497, 8vo. 1497, 8vo. Ad Us. Rom. 1498, 8vo. 1498, 8vo. Consult B. S.
vol. i. p. 150-1 : vol. iv, p. 510-515. These six copies of ' Hours ' after the
uses of Paris, Salisbury, and Rome, need not be here more particularly
noticed. The pages just referred to will give the reader, it is presumed,
sufficient information respecting their comparative beauty and rarity.

Isidorus. Etytnolog. libri. xx. 1472, folio. It is somewhat singular that two vellum
copies (perhaps more) of the first book printed in Germany, with a roman
type, should be in our own country. Sir M. M. Sykes possesses the other
copy alluded to. The present is ' de toute beaute.' B. S. vol. iii. p. 73.

. De Responsione Mundi, 1472, folio. This volume is also another similar

production of the same press — G. Zainer's. It is in equally estimable con-
dition. B. S. vol. iii. p. 398.
Littera Indulgentiarum, 1455. Two copies ; upon oblong-shaped vellum. In what
other vellum list of curiosities will you find even one of these Letters of
Indulgence? Precious indeed are these documents— and even rarer than
' white crows' or ' black swans.' Do pray read hereupon in B. S. vol. i. p. xliv ;
vol. iv. p. 573.

Machazor ; sen Brevianum Free. Judaicar. 1486, folio. The present is one of
two or three specimens, in this extraordinary library, of old Hebrew books
struck off upon vellum : and rare and interesting ' specimens ' they are.
B. S. vol. iv. p. 528 : and p. 317, ante.

Missale Babenbergense, 1481, folio. A sound and genuine copy of a very uncom-
mon book in any condition ; much more so in the present. B. S. vol. i. p. 133,

Moses. Liber Preceptorum. (1488), folio. A very precious volume, and of ac-
knowledged rarity. B. S. vol. iii. p. 428.

SEVENTH DAY.

355

Belinda. Do vellum-books usually afford that species of
midnight luxury? If so, my Lysander, let us henceforth
discard the pillow of swan's-down, and choose one cased in
calf's skin i

Earl Speistcer's Vellum Books.
PUnius Senior. Roma. 1470, folio. Enough has been already said, as well m
vol. i. p. 381, of this work, as in B. S. vol. ii. p. 257, of the extraordinary
rarity, and almost matchless condition, of this genuine old volume. The illu-
minations are still preserved by the pink slips of silk with which they were
originally covered. I am not sure that the Noble Owner of these vellum
treasures can put his finger upon any other classical volume of so much wortli
as the present !

Psalterium Latine. Mentz, 1457, folio. Beyond all price : yet not so costly
as the copy of it in his Majesty's library ; of which latter, some eight or tea
years ago, I published a detailed account in the Athentzum, vol. ii. p. 369.
Consult also B. S. vol. i. p. 107 : in which two authorities, the bibliographi-
cal history of this first printed volume with a date may be said, with
due humility, to be nearly exhausted.

. Mentz, 1459, folio. Editio Secunda. A. large and genuine

copy : head and shoulders taller than its elder brother. In its day, tliis
noble volume had ' seen some service.' It is a precious acquisition. B. S.
vol. i. p. 117.

. Ling. Sax. Inf. Sine Anno, 4to. A very singular and

almost unheard of production. B. S. vol. i. p. 129.
Well, vellum-loving reader, art thou satisfied with such a splendid detail ? Or,
dost thou say as Polypheme did to Ulysses, ' More, give me more !' Be it so
then— thou shalt catch me, just now, in a kind and accommodating mood : but
whither wouldst thou go ? 'To Althorp. To roam in that wide-spreading
forest of russia and morocco-coated books !' ' Cease. The hundred hands of
Briareus, and the brazen throat of Stentor would be inadequate'—' But the vellums
only, (say you) the vellums, dear Master Rosicrusius . . wouldst thou withhold
an enumeration oisuch treasures, and thus forbear making your membranaceous
picture complete ? ' To Althorp then we go— with the rapidity of Puck, and the
curiosity of lachimo ! . . Again, however, let the order be in the ABC fashion.
Anacrem, Gr. Pr^ejixo Commentario. Parma, 1784, 4to. If the vellum of this
book were equal to the types— which Mr. Evans observes are in imitation
of those of H. Stephen— (Cat. Junot, no. 83,) the effect would be more com-
plete. It is however a very scarce volume ; as Mr. Och^da informs me that
Bodoni (the printer of it) assured him there were only four copies of it
printed upon vellum. This copy is bomid in French red morocco.

. 1791, i2mo. Parmce. In jEdibus Palatinis. This little volume may

be thought a bijou in its way. It is also executed by Bodoni, but in his

356

SEVENTH DAY.

Lysander. You mistake the rhapsody of Lisardo . . .
Almansa. What ! this language to the Monarch of the
Day ! ? Dread the severity of royal punishment.

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.
small lower-case type. In the same year, the same printer put forth an im-
pression of Anacreon printed in capital letters; of which a copy upon vellum
is in the Cracherode collection. The present is a very beautiful copy, bound
in green morocco by Roger Payne.

Aristidis Oratio adversus Leptinem. Libanii Declam. pro Socrate. Aristoxeni
Rhythmicoi-um Elementorum Fragmenta. Venet. Typ. C. Palesii, 1785, 8vo.
Apud Laurentium Basilium. Upon the whole, the vellum of this rare volume
is sufficiently white, and the present is a very desirable copy of it. It was
formerly Count Reviczky's.

Audoeni Joannis Cambr. Brit, Epigrammata, 1794, 12mo. 2 vols. Printed by the
elder Didot. The editor is Mons. Renouard. The vellum is thick, but white j
and a few leaves in the present copy are slightly crumpled. Of very rare
occurrence upon vellum.

Baldovini Franc. II Lamento di Cecco da Varlungo. L'anrio Secolare della Morte
di Cecco, There were only twelve copies (all upon vellum) printed of this
performance ; and the present is the vith in number. With it there is the
following reprint :

Stanze del Poeta Sciarra Fiorentino sopra la Rabbia di Macone Testo di Lingua
Ricato a Buona Lezione daW Ab. lacopo Morelli, Constantinop. m.d.l.; with
a preface by Morelli. This poem is printed throughout in capital letters,
very beautifully ; and the entire volume exhibits vellum of the purest lustre.
It is also bound in vellum, and tooled very elaborately by Bozerain — but we
have here rather a melancholy specimen of what might have been thought fine
binding !

Bembo Pietro — della Istoria Viniziana di. In Vineg. per Antonio Zatta, 1790, folio,
2 vols. This attempt at a specimen of a fine vellum book must be considered
a failure. The vellum is thin, but occasionally too yellow ; and the intro-
ductory part of the first volume is most wretchedly discoloured. Bartolozzi's
portrait of Bembo is introduced in the first volume.

Brancadoro Cardinal. His Latin Oration in praise of Sixtus VI. delivered at
Venice in November, 1799. Printed by Zatta, in folio. The Cardinal's
description (at page 24) of the Pope's journey over the Alps, in his 80th year,
is rather eloquently composed. The volume however exhibits but an indifferent
specimen of a vellum book.

Callimachus, Opera, Gr. 1792, folio, Typis Bodonianis. I consider this volume
(printed in capital letters) to exhibit the most beautiful specimen of a vellum
book which has issued from the press of Bodoni. Every sheet in the present
copy seems to have been picked. The recto of the first leaf and the reverse of

SEVENTH DAY.

357

Lorenzo. Order. I pray you, Lisardo, do not brandish
the thunder and Hghtning of your Jove-invested situation ;
but pursue, calmly and uninterruptedly, the vellum theme.

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.
the last are the only exceptions ; but these are of no formidable kind. This
grand book is handsomely bound by Herring in yellow morocco.
Carmina Ethica — ex diversis Auctorihus collegit A. A. lienouard, Parisiis apud
Editorcm, 1795, 8vo. The printing is by the elder Didot. Thick, but white
vellum.

Catullus. Eencensuit Johannes Willies, Anglus. Londini, 1788, Typis J. Nicholls,
4to. The reader has already probably perused (see Mr. Nicholls's Anecdotes
of Literature, ^c. vol. ix. p. 50) the gossiping which took place between the
printer and editor concerning the execution of this work. It was obtained
by his Lordship in the purchase of Count Reviczky's collection ; and is one
of the three copies only printed upon vellum. Although the vellum be
occasionally rather crumpled and yellow, it is, upon the whole, a fair and
* handsome volume.

Dim Cassius, Fragmenta Qucudam. Bassan, 1798, 8vo. Ex Typrgraphia Remon-
diniana. The editor was the Abb6 Morelli. The volume is prettily printed,
but the vellum is indifferent.

Discours Preliminaire Du Voyage Pittoresque De La Grece, 1783, 12mo. De
ITmprim, de la Soc. Litt. Typog. This is a curious morceau in any shape ;
but, upon vellum, it is doubly estimable. The discourse, here printed, was
the one intended to have been prefixed to Choiseul's Voyage Pitt, de la
Grece ; but, from fear of giving offence to the Russian Court, it was altered
to that which usually appears in tlie work itself. There were very few
copies of this impression (containing Choiseul's original idea or plan) distri-
buted, and those only for the author's friends. The vellum is perhaps too
stout ; but upon the whole this is a most desirable little volume.

Erastni Concio De Puero Jesn, ^c. Londini Typis J. etJ.B. Nichols, et S. Bentley,
1816, 8vo This copy upon vellum is one out of six : and a prettily exe-
cuted book it is — perhaps the most elegant which has issued from the
respectable quarter whence it is derived. This small volume is dedicated to
Dr. John Sleath, the present head master of St. Paul's school, by Mr. S.
Bentley ; whose prefatory address, to the youth of that academy, precedes
the text of Erasmus. It is a private specimen of ornamental printing, with
head-pieces, flowered capitals, and red ink titles. The latter is the least
successful part of the volume.

Horatii Flacci Opera, 1791, folio. Printed by Bodoni. This ample specimen of
vellum-printing must undoubtedly be considered— a failure ! Forgive, gentle
Bodoni, forgive this heart-rending sentence ; but though ' Cato be a fine
fellow. Master Truth is a much finer one !' The leaves are too thin, and the

358

SEVENTH DAY.

It seems to work wonders in your audience : and we shall
quickly hear, I make no doubt, of a fierce and vigorous
competition between Philemon and yourself for the collection

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.

M'hole volume bears a sickly and impoverished aspect. Tlie present copy,
although handsomely bound in red morocco by Walther, shews a frightful
crumpling of the leaves.

Laud's (Abp.) Speech at the Star Chamber; 14th June, 1637, 8vo. pp. 65.,
Fotirme of hyddyng of the common prayers. Ex. MSS. T. Rawlinson, 3 leaves.
These specimens of vellum printing are taken olF upon a quarto form ; and
with the exception of the copy in the Ubrary of St. John's College, Oxford,
I know not where to refer the reader to another — in the same form and
condition. This volume is handsomely bound in blue morocco; and is
undoubtedly quite a treasure in its way. I know not how it is, but till I
had seen this famous ' Speech of Archbishop Laud,' printed upon
VELLUM, the energy and argument with which it abounds had never so
powerfully struck me !

LucaniPharsalia, 1795, folio. Printed by Didot the elder. If Mons.'Didot l'ain6j'
had only executed this volume, upon vellum, he had done sufficient to place
his name in the foremost rank of either ancient or modern typographers.
The vellum is as perfect as the typographical execution of it is enchanting.
We have here little or no crocus-tint ; and every leaf seems to have been
chosen with singular attention to equality of substance and evenness of surface.
Monsieur Renouard, the celebrated Aldine bibliographer, is the editor of it ;
and he presumes that the accuracy of the text is equal to the beauty of the
printuig. I remember to have heard him expatiate upon the unceasing care
and even microscopic attention, with which, aided by the sagacity of Madame
and Mademoiselle Renouard, he pursued the task of collation and correction :
and he now enjoys the fruits of such perseverance in more senses than one.
The present magnificent book cost its Noble Owner 120/.; and his Grace the
Duke of Devonshire gave a similar sum for another similar copy of it. It
should seem that oiily five were printed upon vellum : (too many by three!)
three upon blue paper: (• horresco referens') and 212 upon the usual paper.
Consult Peignot's Pep. Bihliog. Univ. 1812, Bvo. p. 207. 1 quote from a large
paper copy of this latter work— penes me— of which on]y four copies were
printed. This is about as it should be !
Magna Carta, 1816, folio. Printed by Whittaker in Letters of Gold. This is
really a most extraordinary production. Of the ingenious printer of it,
something shall be said towards the close of this Day's discussion. Here only
let it be observed, that the copy before us is richly illuminated and emblazoned

SEVENTH DAY.

359

of snow-white, unspotted, vellum Alduses and Juntas ! Yet
let me advise both parties lo be moderate in their expecta-
tions of success ; for money alone cannot procure such
treasures — and, after all, a sight of the tomes of this kind, in

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.
by Mr. Richard Thomson ; who has spared neither time nor labour to render
his own efforts deserving of the costly material upon which they are bestowed.
Novelle Otto; Stampate a Spese de i Signori Giacomo Conte di Clanbrassil,
Tomaso Stanley, e Wogan Browne. London. Da Giacomo Edwards.
cId.Iocc.xc. 8vo. The advertisement, on the ensuing leaf of the title-page, tells
us that only 25 copies were printed ; including the four only which were
printed upon vellum. The eight novels contained in it, with brief notices
of the original texts from which they were printed, are as follows :

1. Lacnmosa Novella. Stampata in Venetia per Alexandro de Vie Venetian,
ad instantia de Francesco librer de la Cucha, 1551.

2. Historia Dilettevole. Senza nota.

3. La Giulietta. Stampata in Venetia, p.er Francesco Marcolini del Mese di
Ottobre nell' anno del Signore mdxxxix.

4. )

^ > Opei a Dilettevole et Nuova de Gratitudine et Liberalita. Senza Nota.

^' ^ Amorose Novelle, Senza Nota.
8. Caso Notabile. Venetia, senz' anno.

The daily falling off in price of these ' Novelle Otto ' (I do not speak of vellum
copies) is suthciently to be accounted for, A work of this sort, to be thoroughly
acceptable to the curious and critical, should not only be most judiciously
selected, as to its contents, but most tastefully executed in a typographical
point of view ; and, in this latter respect, tlie superiority of the ' Novelle Scelte
Rarissime' published by Mr. Singer in 1814, 8vo, is, I think, directly to be
acknowledged : owing, no doubt, to the improvement of printuig, in all its
branches, since the publication of Mr. Edwards's interesting volume. As to the
present copy of it, it is splendid beyond compare : having the title-page, and
the beginning and end of eacli novel, enriched with appropriate illummations
by the pencil of the late Countess Lucan. The vellum also is exceedmgly sound
and white : and the binding exhibits quite a keimelion in the bibliopegistic art !
It is in orange-colour morocco ; having the sides covered with 32 ornaments, upon
dark blue morocco, oval-shaped — in the manner of coins — of the crest and coronet
of its Noble Possessor : a single (similar) ornament is at each comer, and 4 are
at the back.

Novelle Galante. In otlava Rima, dell' Ab . . . C . . . Nuova edizione, corretta, e
ricoretta Londra, e si trova in Parigi presso Molini, Librajo, &c. m.dcc.xc.iii.

VOL. II. Z

360

SEVENTH DAY.

the royal library of France may damp the courage of the
most adventurous collector.

Philemon. Too true, too true : but cease the cutting

Earl Spenceu's Vellum Books.
8vo. A very beautiful volume : the vellum being both white and substantial.
Bound in green morocco by Roger Payne.
Ovid (le Tristibus, The Three First Boohes of. Translated into English by Thomas
Churchyarde. London, 1816, 4to. We have here a singular performance in
every respect. The present is one of the volumes which form, as it were, the
Roxburgh e-Club Library. It is a reprint from the only known copy of
the original edition of 1587, at Althorp ; and the copy before us, also
unique, upon vellum, (from the Shakspeare Press) is adorned with a pro-
fusion of illuminations, by Mr. Richard Thomson ; copied from the more
ancient ornamented MSS. in the British Museum. The title-page is richly
emblazoned with the coat-armours of the several members of the Club ;
being 31 in number. Rarely has the adaptation of ancient art to modern
productions been more successfully carried into effect !
Prymer (Goodly) in EnglyssJie, 1535, 4to. Printed by Byddell for Marshall.
This is a sound and desirable copy of a volume of very uncommon occurrence.
It is bound in blue morocco.
Psalterium, Gr. Sec. Codicem Alexandrinum,, 1812, 4to. The Revd. H. H.
Baber, principal Librarian of the printed-books in the British Museum,
is the editor of this work ; which continues the laudable example set by
Woide — of publishing afac-simile of the text of the Old and New Testament,
as that text appears in the celebrated Alexandrine Greek MS. of the latter end
of the ivth century. The present is one of the twelve copies struck off upon
vellum — without noies : and it must be admitted that 'the attempt has been
equally successful as arduous. It is in blue-morocco binding. I shall shortly
have another occasion to speak of the able and meritorious labours of my
friend the Revd. ' H, H, Baber.'
Tasso. Aminta Favola Pastorale, Paris, 1781, 8vo. Printed by Didot, at the ex-
pense of Molini. The vellum of this covetable little volume is perhaps some-
what too stout ; but it is both white and pure — with the very common ex-
ceptions, however, of the recto of the first leaf, and the reverse of the last,
being much discoloured. The binding, in red-morocco, is by Roger Payne ;
and it exhibits a union of the usual excellences and defects of that skilful
binder. The tooling on theoutsides is in perfectly good taste; but the interior
lining displays that dark-blue sugar-paper tint, which carries us immediately
to the vicinity of Thames-street !
— . Rime Diverse. 1534, 8vo. This impression is indeed a curiosity, as it is
from the press of Antonio da Sabio ; see page 236 ante. Where to refer the
reader to another similar copy, of the da Sabii press, is wholly out of my

SEVENTH DAY.

strain! Revert, great monarch of the day, to our own
treasures ; and let not Bodley, Selden, Laud, Harley, and
Cracherode * have collected in vain !

Earl Spencer's Vellum Books.
power. But as the Sun hath spots, (and indeed hath been lately much trou-
bled with them) so this desirable treasure is injured by having a ms. title-
page, and the colour of the vellum very materially tarnislied. It was recently
obtained from the Abbe Celotti.

Tewrdanckhs, 1517, folio. Turn, gentle reader, to the note in vol. i. p. 202, of
this work ; and from thence fancy, if thou canst, what must be the lustre and
the worth of this glorious volume. Perhaps a fastidious observer might say
that it has been somewhat ' shorn' of its pristine magnitude, at bottom ; but the
late Mr. Hering must be acquitted of this spoliation— as I make no doubt
of this * shearing' having been previously perpetrated by some foreign
brandisher of the ruthless steel! The tone too, of this probably matchless volume,
may be thought, by the same fastidious observer, rather yellowish ; and the
substance of the leaves somewhat tough— hnt let him consider the difference
between Italian and German vellum — and then, for one quarter of an hour,
let him not cease lifting up his eyes and his hands in utter transport and asto-
nishment at what comes under his vision ! It is in such a copy as this, of
ancient art, that we perceive what our forefathers have done, and how much
yet remains for their successors to do ! In red-morocco binding.

Theophrasti Characteres, ^c. Gr. Johannes Wilkes, Anglus, Recensuit Londini,
MDCCXC. Typis lohannis Nichols, 4to. We have here a companion to the
Catullus, noticed in a preceding page; but this companion has not quite so
comely an aspect as its associate. The vellum is very indifferent. Note,
however : this impression contains two chapters from a Vatican MS. collated
by Amadutius. ' O rare Johnny Wilkes,' what had Noith Britons and
Arguments upon Writs of En-or (consult Burrowe's Reports, vol. iv. p. 2527-

2577 , 8vo. edit.) to do with vellum copies of Greek and Roman Classics

rather calculated for the quiet student or secluded collector ! ? Yet there is an
interesting oddity in all this ; and henceforth let the editor be numbered among
' vellum-loving bibliomaniacs.' This copy was presented to his Lordship by
Mr. Wilkes himself. See Nicholls's Literai-y Anecdotes, vol. ix. p. 471.
Such are the vellum Book Treasures, from beginning to end, ia Town

and in the Country, belonging to the Right Honourable the Earl Spencer.

Comparing some of them with what appears in the Mac-Carthy Catalogue,

and the whole with what were in the Collections of Lord Oxford and Dr.

Mead, the comparison will be far indeed from tarnishhig the general lustre of

the magnificent library from which such treasures have been selected. Our own

See p. 369, post.

362

SEVENTH DAY.

LisARDO. Dear be their names, and not less cherished
be their memories ! Indeed the latter was eminently distin-
guished for taste and choice. But do not let us forget that

Royal Collection perhaps contains more numerous vellum treasures . . and I had
once thought-hut a thousand obstacles rushed forward to prevent the execution
of such an idea- And so, good-humoured reader, take ' en bon gre'-take
that which thou dost here receive -not, however, as thou wilt presently find,
that I have had ' my last word' about ' vellum-book treasures!'

» its intHnsic curiosity and worth merit.] In the ' First Day' of tliis
Bibliographical Decameron the reader has had a particular account of the extra-
ordinary worth of two MANUSCRIPT VELLUM BOOKS in the collection of his
Grace the Duke of Devonshire. It now remains to subjoin a notice of a few
choice PRINTED vellum books in the same collection ; premising, that the greater
number of these vellum bijoux (especially those of modern date) are deposited
in his Grace's principal library at Chatsworth. Yet, vellum-loving reader, thine
eye will glisten and thine heart palpitate upon readh.g what hereafter followeth !

Duke of Devonshire's Vellum Books.

Au^ustinus. Be Cimtate Dei. V. de Spira, 1470, folio. We have here a genuine
sound copy of an old vellum Venetian production. Yet there are too many
discoloured pages. The illarainations. however, are both fresh and coeval.
This volume is of 'tried rarity.' In old red morocco binding.

Biblia Sacra. Latine. Jenson, 1476, folio, 2 vols. There has been already (p. 352)
a strong anticipation excited of the beauty and worth of this precious ' exem-
plar'-which was obtained at the sale of the Wiliet library (Bihl. Willet.
no 287) for 168Z. It is perhaps the finest copy of the impression extant.
The illuminations are fresh and sparkling; and where we get a couple of
snow-white vellum pages, facing each other, (for I admit there are occasionally
discordant appearances) the effect is absolutely dazzling. The illumination
of the first page of the sacred text, although certainly inferior in point of art
to the same page in Lord Spencer's copy, is very magnificent : yet a part of
this beautiful ornament, at top, has been sliced away by the remorseless shears
of De RoME-leaving us, in sorrow and silence, to imagine what must have
been the pristhie dimensions of this noble specimen of a vellum Jenson!

Bonifacius Papa. Libr. Decretal. 1465, folio. A fine old vellum Mentz book. It
has been recently bound by Kalthoeber ; and from the dipt state of some of
the illuminations, and of the right-hand top-comer numerals, I suspect that
great freedom has been taken by the tools of the binder.

Bonifacius Papa. Libr. Decretal. Schoiffer, 1473, folio. A volume of nobler
dimensions than the preceding. In old red morocco binding.

Castle ofOtranto, by Walpole, 1791, 4to. printed by BodouL ' This edition was
printed at the expense of the late Mr. J. Edwards, who had six copies taken
off upon Italian vellum, from each of which the sheets were carefully selected

SEVENTH DAY.

363

the present reigning monarch has shewn more than ordinary
attention, in the brightest days of book-collecting, to volumes
printed upon vellum. His Alduses alone* would form a

Duke of Devonshire's Vellum Books.
to render t/i2s copy as perfect as possible.' Bibl. Edvards. no. 165, 1 purchased
this copy for his Grace at 291. 8s. There are also some pencil-embellishments
in it, of a quiet good taste ; and the book, upon the whole, is a most desirable
specimen of Bodoui's vellum-printing.

Cicero. De Officiis, <^c. 1466, 4to. An ample, sound, and desirable copy : in blue
morocco binding by Kalthoeber.

■ Rhctorica Vetus, Jenson, 1470, folio. In its original condition, this volume

must have answered the idea entertained of its beauty in the Bibl. Spencer.
vol. i. p. 350. At that time I knew not of its existence. It is an especially
rare treasure. The copy however is not free from soil, although in a sound
condition : and the binder has curtailed its ancient ' marginal grandeur.'

Clement V. Papa. Constitutiones, 1467, folio. A sound and perfect copy ; but
rather more discoloured than usual.

Flcrrius, De Dunb. Amantibus Camillo et Emilia. Guiscardo et Sigismunda. Cesar
et Stol, without date, quarto. Sufficient has been said (Bibl. Spencer, vol. iii.
p. 326, 330) of this interesting volume to render a vellum copy extremely
desirable ; yet, curious reader, we have here a copy partly vellum and partly
paper; in almost alternate leaves. Singular enough, this. The vellum leaves
are in most comfortable condition. The binding of this curiosity, by Hering,
is both gorgeous and tasteful.

Galenus. De affectorum locorum notitia, 4to. without date. The printer was old
Harry Stephen; and this rare specimen of his press does it infinite credit.
The copy is sound and clean — and was once of proportionate dimensions.

Heures a I'usage de Clermont, 8vo. printed for Simon Vostre- Whoever wishes to
see realised all that has been said of the beauty of the printing of the
Pigouchets, of the Vostres, Bonfons, and Kervers, &c. in the Second Day of this
work, may find sucli reality in the present lovely volume : which is tall, broad,
clean, and spotless. The binding by Hering, in purple morocco, is worthy
of the beauty of the interior,

HorcB Sec. Us. Sarum. printed by Julyan Notary, 8vo. without date. I know not
where to recommend the reader to a choicer copy of a large octavo vellum
Notary, than the present. It is in the most desirable coadition ; and the bind-
ing of it by C. Lewis, in blue morocco, is perfectly beautiful and appropriate.

Homeri Opera Omnia, Or. printed by Aldus, 8vo. without date. Mention of this
copy has been already made at p. 348, ante. These are indeed resplendent
tomes ; and tlie binding of them, in deep orange colour morocco, by Hering,
is worthy of the loveliness of their interior. Thus then it is. Within 300

* See p. 371, post.

3G4

SEVENTH DAY.

sweet posey, I understand, for the gala-dress of any biblio-
maniacal courtier ! Of his other similar gems, I am not able
even to venture at a guess.

Duke or Devonshire's Vellum Books.

yards of each other, there are to be found not fewer than three Aldinb
VELLUM Homers : beauteous in complection, perfect in growth, and classical
hi apparel ! What a place is ' London Town !?' For this alone, ' perdie,' she
might be called the Empress of cities.

Justiniani Institut, Libr. V. Scheffher, 1472, folio. A clean, sound, and ample
copy. In old morocco binding.

Lucani Pharsalia, 1795, folio, printed by Renoiiard. This sumptuous and exqui-
site volume has been before noticed, p. 358. The present is the only other
copy of it in England. It is not less sumptuously and exquisitely bound in
orange-colour morocco by C. Lewis. A very sun at noon-day !

Magna Carta, 1816, folio, printed by Whittaker in Letters of Gold. Mention
having been already made (see p, 358, ante) of this gorgeous and truly
unrivalled production, it remains here only to observe that the present is
one of three copies already executed upon vellum -with a purple ground.
Its worth may be estimated accordingly. But see the Whittakerian
article, post.

Mer (La) des Histoires, Verard, 1497. folio, 2 vols. First edition — and Colbert's
own copy of it. What wouldst expect, gentle reader ? Illuminations rich and
unsoiled; vellum white and firm; margin ample and proportionate?! They
are here. Will the Mac-Carthy copy (Bibl. Mac-Carthy, vol. ii. no. 3942) pre-
sume to • lift its head' above the present? Rather ask, ' will all the Marshals
of France, united, with the Ex-Emperor at the head of them, venture to
measure swords with Arthur Duke of Wellington ?' I trow not.

Nonius Marcellus, Jenson, 1476, folio. This delicious volume came from the
collection of the late Mr. James Edwards ; and Mr. Evans (see Bibl. Edvards,
no. 287) shall be my sole authority in the description of it. ' It has the title, and
52 miniatures [capital initials] from the antique, in relief on pale blue ground,
most exquisitely painted for the Medici family— as appears by the arms in the
beginning of the work. It is impossible for the beauty of this copy to be
surpassed.' This competition-exciting description would naturally lead to a
tough contest for the acquisition of such a treasure ; nor could this vellum
Helen be borne off triumphantly until her Menelaus had inflicted one
hundred and ninety nine strokes and a half' upon his Pa risian opponent ! But
we will resume sobriety of description. This cop^^ bound recently in a very
classical manner by C. Lewis, has its ancient gilt fore-edge ; yet it is manifest,
from the closeness of the old cutting to the top corner numerals, that it hath
suffered somewhat in altitude. Upon the whole, however, this volume has
•4 most joyous and ' spirit-stirring ' property about it.

SEVENTH DAY.

365

Lysander. Philemon, I think, mentioned the name of
Count Mac-Carthy —

LiSARDO. He did so ; and truly, if the mere acquisition

Duke of Devonshire's Vellum Books.

Palace of Pleasure, William Painters, 1813. 4to. 2 vol. Reprinted by J, Harding,
from a collation of the older editioas, with a preface and annotations, by Mr.
J. Haslewood. There were only seven copies of this reprint upon vellum. The
leaves were picked with singular care and nicety ; and take it ' for all in all,'
it is among the most successful vellum experiments which any British modern
press has produced — considering the quantity of matter to be impressed. It is
indeed a very lovely performance. Sir M. M, Sykes and Mr, G. Hibbert
are the fortunate owners of two of the remaining six copies.

Petrarcha. Triompho dello Amore di, dj-c. M. F. This volume, which has rather an
octavo than a quarto form, (althougli originally it was in all probability of the
latter size) is without date and name of printer ; but I suspect, from the
similarity of its typographical execution to the Arcadia of Sannazaro in Lord
Spencer's collection, described at page 351, ante, that, if not in the xvth, it
is printed early in the xvith century: and, as such, must be treasured
accordingly. A full page has 27 lines, and the signatures a, b, c, and d, run
in eights ; with e in nine leaves. At the end we read :

Fine de Triomphi del clarissimo
poeta Francesco petrarcha.

This rare and estimable volume is handsomely bound in light blue morocco.

■ Sonetti e Canzoni, 1514, 8vo. If fragrant flowers and soft music be

invoked in the description of a supposed vellum Appian by Ratdolt, of 1477,
(see vol i. p. 404) what substances and sounds ought not to be invoked in a
description of the gem now before us ! ? We must however retain our senses in
the oiitset, liowever we may lose them at the close, of the description of this
exquisite treasure. Know then, by way of exordium, order-loving reader,
that this very copy was purchased at the sale of the Paris Library (no. 328):
that the purchaser was Earl Spencer ; and that the first possessor of it, in
the noble family to which it is now attached, was the late Ducliess of Devon-
shire, Sister to his Lordship, to whom it was presented by her Brother.
A gift, in every respect worthy of the donor and donee. Previous to the
sale of it, the late Mr. Johnes (6 jU-«xap>TV]5) had agreed with his Lordship
not to compete with him for it, on condition of that Nobleman's ' withdrawing
his forces' from opposmg him, the said Mr. Johnes, in the acquisition of the
vellum Froissart of 1514 : see no. 546. Thus far the narrative is smooth,
simple, and succinct.

Now tor the book itself. The Paris Catalogue tells us that ' Mr. P****
had the good fortune to procure it at Florence, where it was universally

366

SEVENTH DAY.

of vellum books constituted the ne plus ultra of fame as a
collector, the late Count Mac-Carthy was the most famous
of his class.* I heheve however, that, in the vellum publi-

DuKE OF Devonshire's Vellum Books.

reported to have been executed for a Princess of the House of the De Medici ;
and it is so correct, that he had never been able to find a single fault in the
printing.' From its general appearance the edition seems to be an Aldus.
The authority, just quoted, further informs us that this is ' a book of match-
less beauty from the charming miniatures painted by Giulio Clovio.' ' Six of
these are the triumphs of Love, Chastity, Death, Fame, Time, and the Deity,
5 inches by 3, and are in the finest style possible. TlTey have all the
grandeur and spirit of his master, Giiilio Romano, with the minute delicacy
and finishing of Clovio. Two others of the same size serve as frontispieces.
There are 174 of most exquisite miniatures of birds, beasts, fishes, monsters,
fabulous histories, and various compositions of the greatest ingenuity, in the
borders of the pages, with a small gold line from each subject directed to the
verse to which it alludes.' This gem produced at the same sale 1161. lis.
The account, upon the whole, is far from being exaggerated ; but the larger
illuminations are not by the pencil of Clovio. The style is entirely dif-
ferent, and certainly inferior. They are executed in various colours : some
being in purple, others in green, and others in brown and gold. The smaller
illuminations, or drolleries, are the very life and soul of the volume ! Nothing
can surpass them. But how strongly do joy and sorrow struggle for the
mastership in viewing this exquisite performance ! The detestable steel of
Monsieur De Rome, who disgustingly obtrudes liis name upon the fink silk
of the interior of the binding, has made dreadful havoc with the forementioned
entertaining capi-iccios : a leg, an arm, a tail, a wing — and I know not what —
being frequently amputated. At the end of the printed text are a few ms.
leaves, designated as ' Stramhoti di Messer Evriali. AseuL' The execution of
the text is neat, but the colour of the ink is much faded.

Plinius Senior. Jenson, 1472, folio. We have here perhaps the Prince of vellum
Jensons! The condition is sound, the binding ancient and appropriate, and
the pages, comparatively, rarely sombre; while the margin is ample and
unsoiled. A noble book.

PtolemcEus. Lat. Hull. 1482, folio. This copy experiences the usual fate of early
printed volumes with geographical decorations. The maps are somewhat
frightfully coloured : and the vellum is, in other respects, uncomfortable —
being much crumpled in the binding.

Testamentum Novum, Gr. Cura Woide, 1786, 4to. This is the well-known printed
fac-simile of the celebrated MS. of the New Testament distinguished by the
name of the Codex Alexandrinus ; of which the original is preserved in the

* See p. 372, post.

SEVENTH DAY.

367

cations connected with the presses of the Alduses and the
Giunti, the collection of the said Count is rather lamentably
deficient. Yet, no doubt, among many of the nobler spe-

DuKE or Devonshiue's Vellum Books.
British Museum. Ihe present Is noi only one of thj ten copies upon vellum,
but it is also unique of its kind — being in a folio form, and several inches
taller than any otiier copy. It belonged lo the late Bishop of Ely, and was
obtauied in the purcliase of that Prelate's library by his Grace.

Testamentum Vetus, Gr. Curd H. H. Baher, 1816, folio. Mr. Baber commenced
his career of walking in the footsteps of VVoide, by putting forth, m the first
place, the Psalter — of which one copy also, of the dimensions of that last
noticed, was sti uck off for the library under description. The editor is now
occupied in carrying through triumphanily the remaining books of the same
sacred text — and the Pentateuch is already executed. His Grace will have
his copy completed by a unique impression of the latter, upon vellum, of the
same size: and thus ma3' challenge the archives of the Louvre and the
Vatican to produce a printed volume of equal extrinsic beauty and intrinsic
worth. Mr. Taylor, the printer, has most ably executed the task assigned to
him ; and neitlier pains, care, accuracy, zeal, nor ability, have been wanting
on the part of the editor.

Virgilius, 1501, 8vo. printed by Aldus. One heaves a sigh upon the very threshold
of this lovely volume. The title is wanting ! ! The illuminations are even
fresher than those in Lord Spencer's delectable copy, described at page 347,
ante. The tone of the vellum is pure and brilliant : and the copy is only one
degree inferior to that just referred to. The binding by Hering, in olive
colour morocco, is beautiful and appropriate.

Vitruvius, 1513, 8vo. printed by P. Giunta. See page 279, ante. This copy is
perfect, but cropt, and not free from soil. Yet, as a vellum Giunta of no
ordinary occurrence, the Noble Owner of it may felicitate himself upon its
acquisition. It was formerly in the library of the renowned Mr. Cavendish.

Here then let us draw a silken curtain over the vellxtm books in the posses-
sion of His Grace the Duke of Devonshire, in London. At Chatsworth, I
believe, there is a large forest of them ; but this article being written in December,
' the colde season,' (to speak in the manner of Caxton) the good natured reader
will forgive my encountering the perambulation of such a spot at such a
moment : and wisliing the Noble Owner of these treasures a huge increase of the
same, as well as very many years of enjoyment of them, I stir my fire, brush up
my hearth, and turn briskly round — to see what other vellum theme ' demands
the song' — or, rather, calls aloud for description,

* Bodley, Sclden, Laud, Harley, and Cracherode.'\ What a host of vellum-
Heroes have we here ! I'll speak to none of them particularly ; only observing
that, in the Auctarium of the Bodleian Library, there are the following,

368

SEVENTH DAY.

cimens of early printing (to say nothing of the first Psalter,
and the first Catholicon) there are treasures almost unpa-
rallelled of their kind. As however you have thus taken me

among oilier, but generally speaking, inferior, books printed upon vellum. The
Wurtzburg Missal, 1481, folio : see vol. i. p, 30 : Gmng's Sallust, 4to. prodigi-
ously scarce — see Bihl. Spencer, vol. ii. p. 327 : Galen de Temperamentis, Cantab.
1521, 4to. Tlie editor's (Linacre's) own presentation copy to Henry VIII. Rare
and invaluable treasure! The Aldine Ovid — inferior, however, to a similar copy
of an odd volume (containing the Tristia) in the same collection : an odd volume
of the Aldine Aristotle; the 5 remaining volumes, also upon vellum, being in the
library of Corpus Cliristi College — of which we shall discourse somewhat in the
Tenth Day of this work. To conclude ; there is also a vellum copy of Norden's
Cornwall, 1728, 4to. in the same Auctarium. Consult Mr. Bliss's Wood's AthentE
Oxon. vol. ii. col. 281, note : from which it appears that there were 4 copies of
Norden's work struck off upon vellum. The preceding was Dr. Rawlinson's copy.
May I be fdrgiven, as a St. John's man, and as a lover of the memory of Laud, if
I take the reader under my arm — and conduct him to the library of the college just
mentioned? — in which library, be it observed, no despicable book treasures are
deposited : as, inter alia, eleven Caxtons — but of these, anon. Our business
just now is with sheep or caif-skin. Well then, in the library of St. John's College,
Oxford, are the following vellum treasures ! The Offices of Cicero of 1465, 4to. per-
fect ; gi\'en by Crynes. A Pentaglot Psalter, with 3 Latin versions and glosses,
1506, folio : cruelly bound in recent, shabby calf. This was Laud's present — as were
the three following : Missale, by Pynson, folio, magnificent. Orarium, printed by
Hardoiiyn at Paris, 1530, brilliantly illuminated ; in the finest possible state of
preservation. Statuta Univ. Oxon. 1634, 4to. Of extraordinary rarity. It came
to Laud as Vice Chancellor, and has the omissions filled in ms. Laud's Speech in
the Star Chamber. This was Dr. Rawlinson's reprint : see page 358, ante. If
I chose to step out of the library of this college, and enter the archive-c\ipboard
of any other, it would be that of Corpus. And wherefore ? — exclaims the fastidious
reader, on thinking of Christ Church and All Souls libraries — I will tell thee. It
is not because the late o Travo Richard Porson spent very many summer hours
and days in this said Corpus ' archive-cupboard,' but because, in that self-same
repository — (as we are touching the vellum THEME)-r-repose the Anthology of
1494, the Princeps Aldine Aristotle, and, still rarer good fortune, Cuthbert
Tonstall's own copy (with his autograph) of his work De Arte Supputandi, printed
by Pynson in 1521, 4to. upon vellum of glorious dimensions and substance!
Thus much, or rather thus little, for vellum books at Oxford.

The name of Cracherode has been pronounced by Lisardo with that respect
which must be always its attendant. I have seen the vellum bijoux, collected by
that eminent bibliomaniac, now deposited, with the entire Bibliotheca Cra-
CHERODiANA, in the British Museum. They are few, and briefly described : a

SEVENTH DAY.

569

abroad, and carried me to the capital of France, I must remind
you of the Royal Collection there* — containing treasures
almost inconceivably rich and abundant. Talk not then of

portion of them being wortliy of every praise. Our arrangement s)i;ill be chrono-
logical.

Vellum Books in the Cuacherode Collection.

Biblia Sacra Latine, 1462, folio, 2 vols. Lamoignon's copy ; and very splendid
and sound. I have seen ampler copies ; but never, upon the whole, a more
genuine and desirable one. Precious tomes — live for ever !

Cicero de Officiis, 146.0, 4to. A clean and sound, rather than ample, copy.

Catullus, Tibullus, et Propertius, 1472, folio. One of the very rarest and most
desirable vellum books in existence. The condition of it however is not quite
comfortable.

Ptolemtms, Lat. 1482, folio. This is rather a common vellum book. Yet is the

present copy in very nice condition.
Anthologia Gr(Eca, 1494, 4to. Probably the most beautiful vellum copy in exist-
ence. The binding is the original ; the leaves are ample, and both text and
margin are unsullied. One knows not how to turn one's eyes from this
lovely object ; — from this genuine, unadulterated copy of one of the most

interesting volumes of classical antiquity

As if increase of appetite did grow
By what it fed on :

Yet a tale of woe belongs hereto. The first page of the text is — ' horresco
referens ' — supplied by a ms. fac-simile; executed, however, with admirable
felicity. The original is supposed to have been beautifully illuminated, and
stolen by some ' feriatus homo ;' (as Montfaucon occasionally designates these
robbers) ycleped in English ' scoimdrel 1'
Virgilius, 1501, 8vo. pri7ited by Aldus. Less fresh and sumptuous than the
Devonshire and Spencer copies ; but a volume, nevertheless, in most desirable
condition, and quite perfect.
■ 1505, Bvo. printed by the Same. Inferior, both in size and condition,, to

the preceding ; but probably rarer in its present state.
Plutarcha. Sonetti e Canzoni, 1501, 8vo. printed by Aldus. The Prince of octavo
Aldine vellums ! I speak of size and condition. It was purchased at the sale
of the Paris library, and is thus correctly described in the Bibl. Paris, no. 327.
' No book of its age has ever been seen in more perfect preservation. It is
in the original bindhig, with very large margins, and the vellum as fair as
when it came from the printer's hands.' What can be added to such a
picture of such a volume ? Nothing ; save only that Mr. Cracherode gave
511. 9s. to become master of it : and further— that it should be examined by

* See p. 373, post.

370

SEVENTH DAY.

your Bodleian — your British Museum — including the
Cracherodes —

Almansa. Gently, good Lisardo . . .

Vellum Books in the Cracherode Collection.
all the knowing who frequent Messrs. Sotheby, Evans, and Stewart. To see is
to admire ! and admiration may— end in despair ! The illuminations of the
Duke of Devonshire's copy of the edition of 1514 (consult p. 365, ante)
upon these margins !-——

' Man never is, but always to be, blest.'
Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, 1502, printed by Aldus. This copy was obtained at
the second sale of Consul's Smith's library, in 1773, or 1775. It is a very
beautiful and estimable copy ; and among the rarer of the vellum Alduses.
Ccesar. Cmnmcntaria, 1514, printed by P. Giunta. A worthy companion of the
vellum Petrarch of 1501. The binding is the same, and it came from the
same (Paris) collection, having been purchased for 29/. 8s. In dimensions it
is inferior, but in condition, it is equal to it : and, next to the Giunta Vitruvius
of 1513, in Mr. Dent's collection, it is the finest vellum Giunta which it has
yet been my good fortune to see.
Testament The Newe : Imprinted at Anweip by Marten Emperowr. Anno. m. d.
xxxiiij. 8vo. We have here a singularly beautiful and interesting volume.
In the first place, the condition of the vellum, and the printing, are perfect.
In the second place, the book itself, in any condition, is of extreme rarity :
and in the third place, the copy under description, once belonged to Anne
BoLEYN, when she was Queen of England— as we learn from her name, in
large red letters, equally divided on the fore-edges of the top, side, and bottom
margins ; thus : at top, ANNA ; on the right margin fore-edge, REGINA ;
at the bottom ANGLIiE. The illumination of the frontispiece is also in very

fair condition. This book is bound in one thick volume, in blue morocco : can

one have the temerity to ask, whether its late amiable and tasteful possessor
discarded the original binding ? It is over specimens like these that we sigh
for the knobs and clasps of ' other times !'
Cicero. Be Qfficiis, .fc. Aldi Fil. 1541, 8vo. A very estimable volume, and of
rare occurrence.

Lily's Grammar, printed by Berthelet, 1542, 4to. Tour introductory leaves:
(Lord's Prayer, Creed, ^c.) The Eight parts of Speech, 1542, 4to. A to I,
inclusively, in fours. Institutio Compendaria, <^c 80 numbered leaves. An
old autograph of 'Art. Maynwaringe' is in the frontispiece of .the alphabet,
or introductory leaves. In old red morocco binding. A very curious and
extraordinary volume.

Lucretius Lambini, 1563, 4to. 2 vols. It is hardly possible to exceed these
volumes for splendor of effect ; and they rank, in this respect, probably equal
to the Aldine Plato of 1513, in 2 volumes, in the Hunterian collection at

SEVENTH DAY.

Philemon. Heresy, sedition, treason ! What next ?
Ltsardo. I command silence. You interrupt me. I was
about to observe — without throwing the least imputation

Vellum Books in the Cracherode Collection.

Glasgow. This copy seems to have successively belonged to Rothelin and

Lamoignon. It is in truth beyond all praise ; and I cannot just now recollect

where another similar copy of it is to be found.
Bale (John) Examination of Oldcastle, 1729, 8vo. A sound and desirable copy

of a well known production. Not very uncommon in its present state.
Guarini (Giambaitista) II Pastor Fido, 1782, Bvo. For a comparatively modern

book, fair and desirable enoujjh.
Boethius, De Consol. Phil. Paris, 1783, 12mo. A pretty book; in desirable

condition.

Anacreon, Gr. Parmm, 1791, 12mo, In capital letters. A truly beautiful and

covetable little volume. Of excessive rarity.
Nov. Testament. Gr. Curd Woide, 1786, 4to. One of the ten copies only upon

vellum.

* His Alduses alone.'] Let Hts Majestv's Alduses speak for themselves,
as they will do most eloquently, in the following unostentatious enumeration of
them. Homeri Opera, Gr. 1504, 8vo. 2 vols. An exquisite copy. What is
singular, the second volume was found separately by Mr. G. Nicol, at Paris, in
the self-same old binding as the first ; thus making the copy felicitously complete.
Petrarcha, 1501, 1514, 1533, 8vo. Three vellum Aldine Petrarchsl Let the
reader repeat this three times to himself, and then fancy what would be his own
felicity on such an acquisition ! The first edition is illuminated ; and that, as well
as the second, is in old morocco binding. Horatius, 1501, 8vo. illuminated; in
red morocco binding. Statins, 1502, illuminated, in old vellum binding. Juvenalis,
1501, 8vo. illuminated, in old vellum binding. Dante, 1502, 8vo. in calf binding.
Euripides, 1503, 8vo. 2 vols. Of excessive beauty ; in the same garb as the
Homer; and obtained from the library of Consul Smith — as were indeed the
greater number of these Aldine bijoux.* Ciceronis Epistolce, 1519, 8vo. in Dutch

* As this may be the last time that formal mention is made of the labours of
Aldus, the reader is here as formally ' made to know ' that such name is yet in
existence, and in our country too. liut the occupation of the British Aldus (to
shew the diversity of talent in the descendants of that immortal family) is of a some-
what different character. What ensues is from The Times Newspaper of Oct. 29,

Bow Street. Yesterday a case came on to be heard, arising out of the
practice of the Bank of England stopping and detaining forged notes, after
defacing them, and when it is impossible to pass them. Mr. Aldus, who keeps
a public house in Drury-Lane, took two forged Bank notes traced to him, one for
2i. and another for ll. Mr. Aldus had no doubt of whom he took them, being
in the habit of marking every note which he received ; but in the present case

372

SEVENTH DAY.

upon any collection in our own country, puhlic or private

that (as all the sapient part of visitors have acknowledged,
and as studious readers have known) the French King's

calf binding ; from the library of Consul Smith. The fine vellum Giunta, of
Plautus, in the same Royal Collection, has been noticed at page 273, ante.

* Count Mac-Carthy — the most famous of his cZoss.] Within a short period of the
composition of this note, the huge vellum collection of Count Mac-Carthy will be
sold by public auction at Paris. The catalogue, (of course upon large paper) of his
entire library, has been this twelvemonth in my possession : and at the end of
the second volume, being the prefix to a most excellent index of the books, is a
list or ' Notice Abr6gee' of those volumes in the library which are printed upon
vellum. The articles, or rather numbers, extend to no. 601 ; and among them, be-
ginning with that sans-pareil of vellum productions — the Complutensian Polyglot

(nearly murdered, I make no doubt, by De Rome in the binding,) are some books
of the very first degree of rarity in any condition. But the Psalter of 1457, and
the Caiholicon of 1460, and the Epistohs ad Familiares of 1469, with the fore-
mentiofied Polyglot, must be considered among the gi-eat guns of such a membra-
naceous collection. The Vellum Romances would be the game for Honorio, or
Palmerin, to fly at— trahit sua quemque voluptas.' There are however a few
melancholy instances of defective copies, having only the first volume ; and the
vellum Alduses, in octavo, must be allowed to yield to those in St. James's Place
and Buckingham House. It is known that the whole of the Mac-Carthy collection
was offered for purchase to the Duke of Devonshire. His Grace, with a prompti-
tude and spirit equally honourable, proposed giving 20,000/. sterling for the
same. The olFer was declined. Rarely perhaps has a negative produced severer
contrition on the part of the proposed venders ! Will the library be made to
realise 15,000Z. of lawful money of Great Britain ? I hope it may ; for the sake
of the worthy representatives of the gallant Count Mac-Carthy,

* the Royal Collection there.'] The late Bisliop of Ely was so good as to
furnish me with a ms. list of the Vellum Books in the Royal Library of
France, appertaining only to the department of Belles Lettres. They
amount, in the whole, to 132 articles : the first Homer having been recently
claimed. The reader is here indulged with this list ; the books being arranged
in the manner in which they appeared in the Bishop's list.

he was not able to prove this fact, as he was not in possession of the notes On
his applying to the parties, who keep a house of ill-fame in Wych-Street, and
another in Titchfield-Street, they had treated him with great indignity, refusing
to make him any recompense : but as Mr. Aldus [how droll it sounds !]
would not swear that, although the wretches were living by the worst of all pro-
fligacy, they uttered the notes to him, well knowing them to have been forged,
no proceedings took place against them at present in a direct manner !'

SEVENTH DAY.

373

Library is without an equal in Europe ! Yet, you will ask,

have the Didots and Bodonis abroad, and the (I will

spare British blushes *) at home, done nothing ?

Vellum Books in the Royal Library of France.
Caiizioniere dl diversi Bergaraaschi in raorte d' un Cane, Bergamo, 1782, 8vo.
Oraison funebre dc Mde. de Lionne, Laon, 1685, 4to.
Les Fables de Fettard, 6 vol. 1765, 8vo.
Le Rime di Martelli, Romae, 1533, 8vo.
Le Roman de la Rose, sans date, folio.
Le m^me, une autre edition, sans date, folio,
Les dits de Philippe de Vulois, Paris, 1655, 8vo.
Un autre exemplaire.
Nonius Marcellus, Venetiis, 1476, folio.
Quintilianus, Venetiis, 1471, folio.
Un autre exemplaire.
Virgilius, Venetiis, 1470, folio.
Un autre exemplaire.
Plautus, Venetiis, 1472, folio.
Guarini Regulae, 1470, 4to.

Hecuba et Iphigenia in Aulide, Lat. Venet. Aldus, 1507, 8vo.

Li Triomphi di Petrarca, Venezia, 1478, folio.

Tortellius de Orthographia, Venet. 1471, folio.

Le Recueil des Histoires Troyennes, Paris, Verard, folio.

Un autre exemplaire.

Histoire Macaronique de Merlin Cocaie, Paris, 6 vol. 1734, 12mo,

Novelle galante in ottava rima, Londra, 1793, 8vo.

Favole e Novelle di Pignotti, Londra, 1784. 12 mo.

Vers allegoriques de Mde Deshoulieres, Paris, Imp. Roy. 4to

Ovide du Remede d' Amours, Paris, Verard, 1509, folio.

Le triomphe de L'amoureuse Dame, Rennes, 1541, folio.

Ciceronis Orationes, Venetib, 1471, folio.

La chasse et le depart d'amour, par St. Gelais, Paris, 1509, folio.

Martialis, Venetiis, Aldus, 1501, 8vo.

Un autre exemplaire, de Grolier.

Gyron le Courtois, Paris, Verard, folio.

Sophocles, Brunck, 1786, 6 vol. 4to.

Lancelot du Lac, Paris, Verard, 3 vol. 1494, folio.

Un autre exemplaire.

Une tome premier,

Joseph, Poeme par Bitaub6, Paris, 2 vol. 1786, 8vo.
Les Aventures de Tewerdancks, Nuremberg, 1519, folio.

* See page 376, post

374

SEVENTH DAY.

Lysander. I am not sure whether the printers you
expressly mention by name, or those to which you only
allude, may not have rivalled the presses of the Alduses and

Vellum Books in the Royal Library of France.

Un autre exemplaire eiilumin^.

Panegyric! veteres, 4to. circa 1490.

II Dante, Mediolani, 1478, folio.

Ciceronis Rhetorica vetus et nova, 1475, folio.

Isocrates, Gr. Mediolani, 1493, folio.

Laurentius Valla de Elcgantia Lat. Serm. Venetiis, 1476, folio.
Anthologia Graeca, Florentia;, 1 494, 4to.

Les Paraboles de Maitre Alain Chartier, Paris, Verard, 1493, folio,
Un autre exemplaire.

Les triomphes de France, Paiis, Guill, Eustache, 1509, gvo.
Les faits et gestes du Legat, Paris, Eustache, 1509, 8vo .
Ciceronis Epistolae ad Brutum, Venetiis, 1470, folio.
Ciceronis Orationes, Venet. Aldus, torn. 2d. 8vo.
Anacreontis Carmina, edente Brunck, Argent. 1786, 12mo
Eadem, Argentinae, 1778, 16mo.
Un autre exemplaire.

Les (Euvres de Marot, Paris, 2 vol. 1723, 8vo.

Les Poesies de Coquillart, Paris, 1723, 8vo.

La farce du Pathelin, Paris, 1723, 8vo.

Les CEuvres de Villon, Paris, 1723, 8vo.

Les Poesies de Martial d'Auvergne, Paris, 2 vol. 1724, 8vo.

Les Poesies de Cretin, Paris, 1723, 8vo.

La Legende de Faifeu, Paris, 1723, Svo.

Racine, du Dauphin, 2 vol. 8vo.

Telemaque idem, 2 vol. 8vo.

Phaedrus, Paris, e Typ. Reg. 1729, 8vo.

De janua, Catholicon, Mogiintiae, 2 vol. 1460. folio.

Longus, Amours de Daphnis, 1731, 8vo,

Les Propheties de Merlin, Paris, Verard, 1498, folio,

Virgilius, Florentiffi, 1741, 4to.

Psittacus, Melioris Statiana Sylvula, Paris, 1615, 4to.

Regalis Echo Epigram. Morelli, Paris, 1610, 4to.

Orphffii hymni edente Morello, Parisiis, 1615, 4to.

Lucretius, Paris, 2 vol. 1744, 12mo,

Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Paris, 3 vol. 12mo 1744.

Apollonius Rhodius, Florentiae, 1496, 4to.

Homerus, Venetiis, 2 vol. 1504. 8vo.

Egnatii de Victoria Francisci I. Carmen, Mediolanis, 1515, 4to.
Terence, en Fran^ais, Paris, Verard, folio.

SEVENTH DAY.

375

the Giunti. Do not let us be prejudiced or precipitate.
There is by far too generally an established antipathy to
modern works executed upon vellum. Do you forget the

Vellum Books in the Royal Library of France.
L'Eneide de Virgile en Fran9ais par St. Gelais. Paris, Verard, 1509, folio.
La Bible des Poetes ou les raetamorplioses d'Ovide, Paris, Verard, 1493, folio.
Un autre exemplaire.

Valerii Flacci Argonauticoii, typis Badianis, 159-, folio.
Le Miroir des Pecheurs en vers, 4to.

L'Epinette du jeune Prince, par Bougoin, Paris, Verard, 1508, folio.
Le Respit de la Mort, en vers, Paris, Verard, 1506, 4to.
Le sejour d'honneur par St. Gelais, Paris, Verard, 8vo.
Les foUes Enterprises, par Gringose, Paris, 8vo.
Les faits de Maitre Alain Chartier, Paris, Lelaron, folio.
Histoire de la destruction de Troie, par Milet, Paris, 1498, folio.
Les sept articles de la foi, de Jean de Meun, en vers, Paris, Verard, 1503, 8vo.
Le Mystere du bien et mal avise, par Personnages, Paris, Verard, folio.
Le Mystere de la Passion de notre Seigneur, par Personnages, Paris, Verard,
1490, folio.

Le Mystere de la Vengeance de Jesus Christ, par Personnages, Paris, Verard,
1493, folio.

L'Art et Science de Rh6torique, Paris, Verard, 1493, folio.
Opere Toscane di Luigi Alaraanni, 2 vol. 1533, 8vo.
Les Triomphes de Petrarque, Paris, 1519, folio.
Pamphile en vers Franfais, Paris, Verard, 1494, folio.
Un autre exemplaire.

La Nef des dames vertueuses, par Champier, Lyon, 1503, 4to.

Sannazarii de partu Virgiuis, lib. 3. Neapoli, 1526, folio.

Pontanus de Obedientia, Neapoli, 1490, 4to.'

Virgilius, Venetiis, 1486, folio.

Stultifera Navis, per Sebast. Brant, Paris, 1498, 4to.

La Nef des Fous de Sebast. Brant, Paris, 1498, folio.

Tlie Shype of fooles, London, 1509, 4to.

Les Regnards traversans les perilleuses voyes des folles de ce monde, par

Brand, Paris, Verard, folio.
33 Apologues d'Esope trad, par Guill. Tardif, Paris. Verard, folio.
Le« Nuits de Straparole, Paris, 6 vol. 1726, 12mo.
Le livre d'Amadis de Gaule, Paris, 1540, folio.
Tristan, Chevalier de la table ronde, Paris, Verard, folio.
Budaeus, de transitu Hellenismi, Paris, 1535, folio
Budaeus, de Philologia, Paris, 1532, folio.
La Nef de Sant6; Paris, Verard, 1507.
VOL. II. A a

376

SEVENTH DAY.

Waze of splendour recently diffused from one end of Pali-
Mall to the other by the sale of the Junot Library ? Have
the achievements gf Honorio, during that memorable day's

Vellum Books in the Royal Library of France,
De Novo Societatis Jesu CoUegio, carmen, Romse, 1582, 4to.
La Louenge des R,ois de France, par Piron, 1744, 8vo.
Les deux tonneaux, par Piron, 1744, Bvo.
Orlandini, Parigi, 1773, Bvo.
Sotise a 8 personnages, Paris, sans date, 8vo.
Le nouveau monde avec I'Estrif, Paris, sans date, 8vo.
Liber Viarum Linguse sanctiB, Paris, 1520, 4to.
Poeme, sur la mort de Jesus Christ, par Massey, Paris, 1627, 12rao.
L' arbre des Batailles, Paris, 1493, folio.

Queering, de Societatis Jesu Collegio. Carmen, Romae, 1582, 4to.

Les chroniques de Judas Machabeus, Paris, 1514, folio.

Analecta vetenim Poetarum, edente Brunck. Argent. 6 vol. 1778, 4to

Etrennes poesies franfaises, par BaYf, Paris, 1574, 4to.

Le passe temps de tout homme, et de toute femrae, Paris, Verard, 4to.

Les loups ravissans, par Gobin, 4to.

Cicero, de Officiis, Contrefac. d'Alde, 8vo.

Cicero, de Officiis, Moguntiae, 1465, folio.

Cicero de Officiis, Moguntiae, 1466. folio.

Cicero, Epistolae ad familiares, 1470, folio.

L'Oraison que fit Ciceron a C^sar, par Macault, Paris, 1534, 8vo.
Such are among the leading Book-Treasures in the Royal Library of Paris.
When Mons. Van-Praet shall have completed and published his magnificent
folio catalogue of the whole of the same books, he will have rejoiced the hearts
of all worthy bibliomaniacs on each side of the British Channel : and shall have,
in particular, the hearty good wishes of the Roxburghe Club for his health and
longevity. But why will not the Curators of the said Royal Collection part with
their duplicates? Why two Spira Virgils of 1470? Or two Aldine Aristotles.'
Surely these interrogatories are not altogether destitute of meaning ?

Let us conclude this ' vellum theme' with a brief but pithy sentence from
Casley (Cat. of Kings MSS. p. xi.) * It is even wonderful to observe how
durable vellum is ; some books [he is of course speaking of MSS.] of a thousand
years ago have no signs of decay ; which, abating accidents, may last to the end
of the world. But they made better vellum a thousand years ago, than ever was
made either before or since.' Eheu ! !

* spare your British blushes.'] This is not a little saucy on the part of Lisardo.
The art, craft, or mystery of printing upon vellum, in England, has been almost
negatively progressive. With less obscurity of expression, but speaking with the
utmost candour, it may be remarked that there have been some failures in this

SEVENTft DAY.

377

sale, been blotted from your remembrance ? How firmly he
fixed his eye — and how steadily he pursued his course — when
he resolved upon marching off, au pas de charge, with the
ne plus ultra of Didot's vellum printing — the folio Horace

department of the tj'pographic art The Life of Nelson, in 2 vols. 4to. is a huge
mass of fog and mist : the Palace of Pleasure, (see page 356 ante) on the contrary,
exhibits sunshine and picturesque clearness : the account of the Visit of the Foreign
Monarchs at Oxford, of which only one copy — executed for the Chancellor — was
printed hy Mr. CoUingwood, is a palpable failure ; but Mr. Utterson's unique
copy of Mr. Merivale's Orlando, 1814, 8vo. printed by Davison, is undoubtedly
a neat and very successful experiment. I could mention a prolix list of similar
performances ; but, upon the whole, the pain would exceed the pleasure in the
same proportion that the failures would be more numerous than the successful
experiments recorded. Yet much is to be allowed for bad vellum and a pigmy
type. Mr. Bulmer lately purchased some- Italian vellum, and with a good fat
broad-faced black letter, struck off, for my friend Mr. G. H. Freeling, a single
copy of a reprint of an auncient werke ycleped ' Newesfrom Scotla7id declaring
the damnable Life of Doctor Fian, a notable Sorceror, who was burned qt Eden-
brough in lanuarie last, 1591.' 4to. This experiment was successful in every
respect. The ink shone, the vellum had a good in and outer coat, and Doctor
Fian himself would have been — but the subject is too serious to be trifled with !

A word or two, however, about foreign vellum. I remember calling, some
eighteen months ago, with Mr. Bulmer, upon Messrs. Dunn and Coles, Stationers,
in Fleet-street, to examine what was advertised to be there sold as genuine vellum :
and on expressing our surprise that the surface of this vellum was rather tough
or greasy, or not of so white and uniform a tint as is seen in vellum books printed
at Paris, an experiment was made before us. The white and beautiful vellum,
of which we had so highly spoken, was immersed in warm water—and, passing
an iron parchment cutter beneath, which was pressed closely upon it during the
action of passing, there was produced — what dost thmk, honest reader ? — a quan-
tity of white lead ; which formed this very surface of which we had spoken in
such high terms : and which said white lead, in a series of years, must in all
probability — to speak the least harshly— play * old gooseberry ' with a vellum
book! Avaunt, therefore, deceptive tomes — treacherous as the ' whitened
sepulchres ' of the ' olden time and give us back the quiet uniform tint belong-
ing to the vellum leaves of Jenson and Aldus and Giunta.

0 formose puer nimium ne crede colori !

* the folio Horace of 1799.] ' De gustibus non est disputandum.' I do not
pretend to say that this is absolutely the chef-d'oeuvre of Didot — ^yet where shall
we behold a lovelier specimen of a book printed upon vellum .'' Bodoni's vellum
Homer I have not yet seen : upon paper, it is delicious ; but his Callimachus
(see page 356) is the finest volume that it has yet been my good fortune to

378

SEVENTH DAY.

of 1 799 !* I own that performance pleased me much better
than the Fables qffontaine executed in the third folloAving
year. But more of this sale in the third and last day of my
addressing you. Let us now revert to the subject which
seemed more particularly to engage our attention.

In regard to Modern Printing — supposing the paper to
be ' as of old' — you ask me whether we are not arrived at
the topmost pitch of excellence in the art ? I answer, not
quite at the topmost pitch : for our types are, in general,
too square, or sharp ; and the finer parts of the letters are
so very fine, that they soon break, and, excepting in the very
first impressions, you will rarely find the types in a completely
perfect state. There is more roundness, or evenness, or,
if you will allow the word, more comfortableness of appear-
ance, in the publications of Tonson and Knapton, than
in those of modern times. Much, no doubt, is attributable
to the perfection of the paper upon which the printers of that
period usually worked.

Lorenzo. You seem to be indirectly casting a slur upon
the presses of modern times — What will the two bouncing
B's t say to you ?

LisAEDo. I am indifferent to their censure, be it ever so
severe. Yet let me not be misunderstood. Great obliga-

examine. Upon the whole, the vellum Bodonis, at the sale above-mentioned,
drooped dreadfully in price — compared with the Didots. Among the latter, upon
a smaller scale,! contented myself with a duodecimo Vicar of Wakefield — snowy,
clean, and sparkling ; (beware of the ' white lead ' — exclaims the chemical biblio-
maniac !) and there doth exist a young and comely maiden who is content that
this pretty tome should be her wedding-portion! Will her future ' Lord and
Master' be equally satisfied? ' I trow not.'

t the two bouncing B's.] These capital initials, I apprehend, are intended for
the first letters of the names of Bensley and Bulmer. We shall have * a bout '
(as old Capulet says) with these * bouncing B's,' anon.

* See page 377 ante.

SEVENTH DAY.

379

tions are due to many a modern name ; but we must not
confound the Type-cutter with the WorTcer of that type ;
in other words, with the Printer. I love the memory of
old William Caslon ; * almost as much as Lysander

* old William Caslon.'] Do pray, good natured reader, and lover of honesty
and ingenuity, sit down quietly by thy fire-side and open vol. ii. p. 355, &c. of
that dainty repertory of ' a thousand notable things,' ycleped NkhoVs Literary
Anecdot s — and there thou shalt peruse to thy heart's content respecting this said.
' old William Caslon.' How ' he served an apprenticeship to an engraver of orna-
ments on gun-barrels'—- began his first type-cutting experiments by executing a
fount named English ^ra2/ic— attacked the Roman Pica, and, after giving (I would
hope) that wretched pilferer and driveller, Samuel Palmer, (whose ' History of
Printing' is only fit for elicampane paper) a half dozen good canings, for his dis-
honesty, he betook himself to that admirable printer and excellent scholar,
William Bowyer, who at once perceived and appreciated his worth. Hence,
from Caslon's type-foundery, came forth the magnificent impression of Selden's
Works, and the Coptic types used for Dr. Wilkin's edition of the Pentateuch.
The grateful Caslon always acknowledged Bowyer as his benefactor and
master : and such were his improvements in the art of letter-founding, that types
were not only no longer imported from Holland, but Caslon's own performances,
in turn, became an object for exportation abroad. The crabbed and eccentric
E«we Mores calls our hero * the Coryphaeus of letter-founders.' Caslon died, full
of years and honour, in 1766 ; and in the 74th of his age.

The matrix and puncheon had not made his heart callous, or his disposition
prone ' to treason, stratagem, and spoils ;' for our ' William,' like the renowned
Britton, the smull-coalman, (see Bibliomania, p. 438, and vol. iii. post) was, as
Sir J. Hawkins informs us, ' a great lover of music, had frequent concerts at his
house, which were resorted to by many eminent masters,' and whither he
assembled his particular friends and ' the companions of his youth.' Anon,
Master Caslon ' removes to a large house in Chiswell-Street, [note, however, that
he had before lived ' in Water-Gruel-Lane,' but his Bacchanalian friends studi-
ously shunning these quarters, he speedily removed therefrom] erects an organ
in his concert-room, and gives regular monthly concerts when the moon is
at the full, for the convenience of those friends who had a few furlongs to return
homewards. Hence, says Sir John, they humorously called themselves Lunatics,
But further. ' In the intervals of the performance, ('tis Sir John Hawkins who
thus narrates) the guests refreshed themselves at a side-board, which was amply
furnished ; and when it was over, sitting down to a bottle of wine, and a decanter
of excellent ale, (of Mr. Caslon's own brewing) they concluded the evening's
entertainment with a song or two of Purcell's, sung to the harpsichord, or a few
catches ; and about twelve rethed.' ' O dainty William Caslon !' thou wert made
of malleable stuff ; and thy reputation, as a master in thine art, as a man of the
world, and as a father and Christian, is • so much to my liking,' that hereafter

380

SEVENTH DAY.

does of ' old William Caxton. * The former was of es-
sential service in directing and bettering the typographical
taste, some fifty years ago ; but let me acknowledge, never-
theless, that, in his ' Specimens of Printing Types,' all
his varieties are exhibited in the Latin language — a most
fallacious mode of making us acquainted with the relative.

ensueth a copy of thy candour-speaking physiognomy : taken, on a reduced scale,
from the mezzotint of Faber. Thy descendants, as many as now exist, shall, per-
adventure, view thy honest countenance M'ith a right good will and merry heart :
and let them at least acknowledge that the graver of Wokthington has been
more successful than that of his predecessor.

In the work, first above referred to, is a copper-plate portrait of another type
founder, of the name of Joseph Jackson ; and let the names of Moxon,
CoTTF.REL, James, Fenner, also type-founders of once-acknowledged celebrity,
be held in equal reverence and respect. Rowe Mores has been their chronicler ;
but, in his abuse of Baskerville, he exhibits the painful and perhaps mirth-
provoking efforts of a man ' kicking against the thorns.' Baskerville was a
wonderful creature as an artist, but a vain and silly man. Some account of him
has been before submitted by me to the public : see Introd. to the Classics, vol. ii.
p. 335. The greatest compliment paid to his memory was the beautiful edi-
tion of the Works of Voltaire, printed by Beaumarchais in Fort Khell on the
Rhine, with types cast in the matrices of Baskerville. The, reader may consult
an amusing article, about this edition of Voltaire, in Peignot's Diet. Rais. de
Bibtiiilogie, vol. i. p. 44; Suppl. (vol, iii.) p. vj, note (z).

SEVENTH day;

381

elegance or proportion of various forms of types. 'Tis like
the distant beauty at the Theatre : approach, and you shall
see that the bloom upon her cheek comes from the pigment
upon her toilet-table, and has not been ' laid on ' by the
' sweet and cunning hand of nature.'

Belinda. O most cruel slander! Outrageously disor-
derly, this — or I am much deceived.

Lorenzo. Lisardo will explain.

LiSARDO. He will : to your complete satisfaction. That
there are some Ladies, out of nine hundred and ninety-nine,
at a Theatre, who, to be revenged upon nature, have re-
course to art, is unquestionable.

Almansa. That position is readily granted.

LisARDO. Good. Now then for the M'^orthy master Caslon's
deception. — But let us change the metaphor . . for I would
not be wanting in chivalrous gallantry to your sex. The Latin
language, either written or printed, presents to the eye a
great uniformity or evenness of effect. The m and w, like
the solid surloin upon our table, have a substantial appear-
ance: no garnishing with useless herbs ; or casing, in coat of
mail, as it were, to disguise its real character. Now, in our
own tongue, by the side of this m or w, or at no great dis-
tance from it, comes a crooked, long-tailed g, or a th : or
some gawkishly ascending, or descending, letter of meagre
form — which are the very flanking herbs, or dressings, of
the aforesaid typographical dish, m or 71. In short, the
number of ascending or descending letters in our own
language, the jp's, fs, tJi's, and sundry others of per-
petual recurrence, render the effect of printing much less
uniform and beautiful than in the Latin language. Caslon
therefore, and Messrs. Fry and Co. after him, should
have presented their ' Specimens of Printing Types ' in the

382

SEVENTH DAY.

English language : and then, as no disappointment would
have ensued, so no imputation of deception would have
attached.

Lysander. You vi^ill not surely pass over Living Printers
of excellence without a slight notice of their productions ?

LisARDO. How stands the sun ? Remember the Abbey
of St. Alban !

Lorenzo. Remember, also, the solemn promise of not
flinching a jot from what you have undertaken to perform.

EisAEDO. Right, Lorenzo. So bring hither, ye Patrons
and Patronesses of Art, the curiously-wrought baskets of
well-selected flowers to decorate the bust of our beloved
Shakspeake.

Almansa. What can this lead to ?

Lorenzo. Are you so dull, sister ? He would expatiate
upon the Shakspeare Press.*

* the Shakspeare Press.'] Trivial as the theme may appear, there are some very
reasonable folks who would prefer an account of this eminent press to the ' History
of the Seven Years War : ' and I frankly own myself to be of that number. Nor
3s it — with due deference be it said to William Bulmer and Co. — from the
least ctdmiration of the exterior or interior of this printing-office that I take up
my pen in behalf of it ; but because it has effectually contributed to the promotion
of belles-lettres, and national improvement ' in tlie matter of the puncheon and
matrix.'

First however let us say a pleasant word or two by way of ' proheme.' It
must not be affirmed that we were strangers to good printing before the establish-
ment of the Shakspeare Press. Tonson's publication of Dr. Clarke's edition of
Caesar, of 1712, is too well known to be expatiated upon. A nobler volume
never challenged public admiration. Kn apton kept up the Tonsonian reputation :
and BowYER, in his Anacreon alone, of 1725, taught the foreign typographical
critics that we were not quite barbarians at Loudon. Meanwhile the Oxford and
Cambridge Presses poured forth their delightful quarto and octavo tomes of Greek
printing : when at length the star of Baskerville shone with a lustre full of hope
and promise. This star ran a short but brilliant course ; and at its declension a
night of typographical darkness threatened to set in on all sides. To render the
gloom, over our country, more complete, as operating by way of contrast, Ibarra,
in Spain, piDOT at Paris, and Bodoni afterwards at Parma, put forth their

SEVENTH DAY.

383

LiSAEDO. Even so : but I will not scatter indiscrimi-
nately the flowers which you may please to bring for my
distribution. The establishment of the Shakspeare Press

extraordinary performances ; and the Don Quixote and Sallust of the former
are yet pieces of workmanship which defy superiority. However, towards the
year 1790, after Bell had disported liimself and gratified the public with his
pretty crown octavo edition of Shakspeare, (illustrated with some charming por-
traits of the principal performers in the leading characters of tlie respective
dramas) and his miniature British Poets from Chaucer to Churchill, the presses
of Messrs. Bensley and Bulmeh, began to be put in motion : the latter, con-
nected with a plan which may be thus briefly described :

Shakspeare, the poetical ' god of our idolatry,' was also to be made the vehicle
of expression and truth through the medium of the pencil and the graver. The
Boy DELLS purchased spacious premises in Pali-Mall, on which they erected an
extensive Gallery — put the pencils of Reynolds, West, Opie, and Northcote, into
motion — and decorate d the walls of this Gallery with some of the noblest spe-
cimens of modern art, illustrative of the text of the immortal bard. The public were
enamoured of the undertaking ; and encouraged, by liberal subscriptions, the
perpetuity of such art by means of the burin ; when up started Heath, and Hall,
and Sharpe, &c. and the whole machinery was put in motion at once uniform
and productive. There wanted yet a third vehicle of perpetuity — the power of
the Press. Accordingly, Mr. G. Nicol, whose intimate connection with the
family of the Boydells had recently taken place, and who formed one of the
social party that first suggested the plan of this magnificent work, resolved
upon aiding the general Shakspearian cause by employing the skilful talents of
Mr. William Martin, of Birmingham, (since deceased) in cutting sets of types,
after approved models ; which he, for a length of time, caused to be carried
on in his own house. At this period an accidental circumstance introduced Mr.
Bulmer to Aldeman Boydell and Mr. Nicol ; and the work now ' grew warm' and
promised the completest success. Premises were engaged in the neighbourhood,
and to Mr. Bulmer's care and skill was entrusted the typographical execution
of the Imperial Quarto Shakspeare — intended also as the vehicle of a smaller set
of prints engraved from the paintmgs before alluded to. The celebrated GEoaoE
Steevens volunteered in correcting the press.

In January, 1791, appeared the first Number of this Shakspeare; containing
the Plays of Richard III. and Much Ado About Nothing. The most sanguine
predictions of success accompanied its publication ; and our illustrious Bard, in
consequence, came regularly before the public in a suit of clothes so rich and
rare,' that it was a marvel and a joy to behold.' Mr. Bulmer's press being now
completely established, the conductors of it were naturally ambitiou&of' flying'
at other and hardly less noble ' game :' when forth came, in three grand folio
tomes, our not less immortal Milton : exhibiting, I tfeinjij to the eye of the

384

SEVENTH DAY.

was unquestionably an honour both to the Founders in
particular, and to the Public at large. Our greatest Poet, our
greatest Painter, and two (for let me not make some mortals

fastidious, a still more beautiful and imposing appearance, from the general equality
of the lines, and the comparatively uniform structure of the pages in consequence.
There is, indeed, about this enchanting edition, an evenness of tint — a mellow-
ness (if I may so speak) of light and shade — which render it quite a master-piece
of art. Thus high and radiant in its orbit, the genius of this office began to
diiFuse its lustre over other less commanding, but perhaps not less interesting,
works; and the following list of some of these ' works,' remarkable for their beauty
or from the circumstance of their being privately printed, may be thought to
' tell a tale ' which even the uninitiated may peruse with interest. The titles
are thus :

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.

Auli Persii Flacci Satyrce, with Brewster's translation, 1790, 4to. This was one of
the first productions of Mr. Bulmer's press, and is a formidable I'ival of the
very best of Baskerville's Classics. It never, however, came before the public.
^/^e Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, 1792-1801, 9 vols, folio, and a
volume of large engravings.

This magnificent work, which is worthy of the unrivalled compositions of
our great Dramatic Bard, will remain, as long as these compositions shall be
admired, an honourable testimony of the taste and skill of the individuals who
planned and conducted it to its completion. No work of equal magnitude (I
speak of the typographical part) ever presented such complete accuracy and
uniform excellence of execution. There is scarcely one perceptible shade of
variation, from the first page of the 1st volume to the very last page of the
work J either in the colour of the ink, the hue of the paper, or the clearness
and sharpness of the types. The text was revised by G. Steevens, and Isaac
Reed. Mr. Bulmer possesses the proof-sheets of the whole work, on which
are many curious remarks, by Steevens, not always of the most courteous
description ; also scraps of poetry, graphic sketches, &c. &c.

A few copies of the first numbers of tliis work were printed npon Colum-
bier paper, to bind up with tlie large prints ; but this plan was abandoned.
Contemplatio Philosophica, a posthumous work of the late Brook Taylor, with his
Life, by his relative the late Sir W. Young, Bart. 8vo. 1793. Privately printed.
Claudiani Opera, 1793-6, sm. Bvo. Never published. One copy was taken otF
UPON VELLUM for the late Mr. Edwards, the bookseller.

This work, and the Persius above-mentioned, were edited by a gentleman,
(then in his youth, at College) who is now well known among bibliomaniacs
and scholars. The Claudian was printed in the view of completing what was
wanting in the series of Classics published by Barbou ; but owing to causes,
not necessary to be related here, the editor abandoned the design before the
entire completion of it.

SEVENTH DAY.

385

vain and others discontented) of our most respectable Pub-
lishers and Printers, were all embarked in one common
cause : were generally and jointly amalgamated, as it were.

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.

The Poetical Works of John Milton, illustrated with engravings after designs by
R. Westall, with a Life of the Poet by Hayley, 3 vols, folio, 1794-5-7. Of
these truly magnificent volumes, some mention has been before made:
see p. 383-4. They may probably be thought the finest production of
Mr. Bulraer's press ; and had a copy been struck off upon choice Italian
vellum, I can hardly estimate what such a copy would have been worth.
As it is, however, this edition of Milton's Poems may compete with the most
successful efforts of the best continental printers : and when this is asserted,
the talents of Bodoni, Didot, &c. &c. are also borne in recollection.

Goldsmith's Traveller, and Deserted Village, and Pamell's Hermit, 1795, 4to.
Ornamented with engravings upon wood by Mr. Thomas Bewick. This joint
effort of Mr. Bulmer and his frietid and companion in early life, attracted a
great share of public attention ; as well on account of the beauty of the
printing, as of the novelty of the engravuigs : nothing at all equal to, or even
approaching, the latter, of their kind, ever having been before executed in
this country. Indeed many persons doubted if they really were what they
professed to be — engravings on wood ; and his present Majesty entertained so
great a doubt on the subject, that he ordered Mr. G. Nicol, his bookseller, to
procure the blocks for his inspection, that he might convince himself of the
fact, which was of course done. One copy cf this beautiful volume was printed
upon WHITE SATIN ; which was purchased by a gentleman of Altona. Three

copies were also printed upon 1 sigh to name it English vellum !

of these, one is in the Royal Library, another is in that of Mr. Hoare, and
the third was purchased by the late Mr. Edwards, the bookseller ; the price
of each was 12 guineas. M^r. Edwards's copy had been disposed of, and was
afterwards sold in 1804, in a sale of Choice Books, by Christie ; beautifully
bound in green morocco, to Sir M. M. Sykes, for 14 guineas.

The Tears of Penelope, sm. folio, 1795. By Sir Brooke Boothby, with beautiful
engravings from the designs of Fuseli. Now very scarce.

Descriptions and Drawings of Plants of the Coast of Coromandel, by Dr. William
Roxburgh. Published by order of the E. I, Company, under the direction of
Sir Joseph Banks, Bart, large folio, 1795. Only ten numbers of this work
have as yet been published.

The Chase, by Somerville, 1796, 4to. With engravings on wood ; intended as a
companion to the Goldsmith. The designs were pencilled upon the blocks of
wood by John, the younger brother of Thomas Bewick; but the former
dying pi'ematurely, the engravings were executed by the latter. This book is
every way worthy of being placed by the side of the former ; three vellum

386

SEVENTH DAY.

in one common white-hot crucible — from which issued so
pure and brilliant a flame, or fusion, that it gladdened all eyes
and hearts, and threw a new and revivifying lustre upon

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.
copies were printed of it. The biographical sketches prefixed to this volume,
and to the Goldsmith and Pamell, were from the pen of the late Isaac Reed.
The History of the River Thames, illustrated with coloured views by Famngton,

1796, 2 vols, folio. These volumes were published at the expense of Messrs.
Boydell and Nicol ; and form but the first of a series which were to comprise
the History also of the Severn, the Forth, and Clyde Rivers, but the times
proved inauspicious to the farther prosecution of the plan. The above
volumes were written by a gentleman, whose compositions are well known to
the public.

Musaeus. The Loves of Hero and Leander, Gr. and Eng. 1797, 4to. Privately
printed for Mr. Grosvenor Bedford, the translator. It is a beautiful specimen
of printing ; but the Greek character is far from being pleasing.

An Account of Indian Serpents collected on the Coast of Coromandel, containing
Descriptions and Drawings of each Species. By Dr. Patrick Russell, 1796,
2 vols, folio. Published by order of the Court of Directors of the E. I.
Company.

Catalogus Bihliothecce Historico-Naturalis Josephi Banks, Baroneti, t^c. ^c. ^c.

auctore Jona Dryander, A. M, 5 vol. 8vo. Only 250 copies of this catalogue

were printed, which renders it of rare occurrence.
An Account of Earl Macartney's Embassy to China, by Sir George Staunton, Bart.

1797, 2 vols. 4to. with a folio volume of Plates. A magnificent publication.
The copper-plate vignettes, from the pencil of the late lamented Mr. W.
Alexander, are quite delicious of their kind.

Qdes, English and Latin, 1798, [by Thomas James Mathias, Esq.] sm. 8vo. not
published.

Imitations of Original Drawings by Hans Holbein, in the Collection of his Majesty,
being Portraits of illustrious Persons in the Court of Hen. VIIL (engraved by
Bartolozzi) with biographical tracts, 1792, one vol. folio. This elegant work
was undertaken by Mr. Chamberlain, the Keeper of the King's Drawings and
Medals. The Biography is from the pen of Mr. Lodge, the author of the
Illustrations of British History. In 1812, the widow of Mr. C. republished
this beautiful work in large 4to. dedicated, by permission, to the Prince Regent.

Rime Scelte di Francesco Petrarca, small 8vo.

Componimenti Lirici de' piu illustri Poeti d' Italia, &c. S vol. small 8vo. 1802.
Aggiunti ai Componimenti Lirici, &c. &c. 3 vol. small 8vo.
Comentarj intomo alP Istoria della Poesia Italiana, da Crescembini, 3 vol.
small 8vo. 1803.

Storia della Poesia Italiana da Girolamo Tiraboschi, 3 vol, small 8vo. 1803.

SEVENTH DAY.

387

the threefold arts of painting, engraving, and printing. The
nation appeared to be not less struck than astonished ; and
our present venerable Monarch felt anxious not only to

Books Printed at the Siiakspeare Press.
These, and several other works on Italian literature, all uniformly printed,
have been successively given to the public by Mr. Mathias. I mention them
here with great pleasure, not only on account of the general beauty of the
printing, but also of their great utility to all persons who admire the works of
the illustrious poets of Italy. No student of the Italian language and poetry
should be without a complete set of these elegant publications.

Canzmi Toscani da T. J. Mathias, 4to. and small 8vo. These original com-
positions of Mr. Mathias, addressed to some of his friends, distinguished for
their learning, were first prefixed to the above publications ; they were after-
wards printed in 4to. but not published. Recently a complete collection of
them has been printed, with notes, by Stefano Egidio Petronj, an eminent
Italian poet, now in England, who bears honourable testimony to the purity
and elegance of Mr. Mathias's Italian Muse. No Englishman, probably, since
the days of Milton, has cultivated the Italian language with more success
than Mr. M. who, (to use the words of a late critic, in speaking of another
oltramontan scholar,) ' pro sua Italicorum carminum pangendorum felicitate,
inter doctissimos Italiae viros raerito accersendus est.' (see page 313 ante.)

Museum Worseleyanum, 1798-1803, m 2 vols, folio. English and Italian. This
splendid work, of which some notice was taken in the Bibliomania, p. 712,
and on which the late Sir Richard Worsley expended upwards of 27,000^.
was never published ; the impressions having been presented by Sir Richard to
his private friends, and to the dilFerent Universities in England and Scotland.
Copies however sometimes find their way into the market ; and, in a recent
case of this kind, a well-known Baronet actually gave 400Z. for one. The first
volume was completed some time previous to the appearance of the second ;
but the plates of the 2d vol. were presented with the first, without the letter-
press ; hence the work is often incomplete, from copies having changed
hands between the completion of the descriptive parts of the 1st and 2d vols.
The Italian ti-anslation of the greatest part of the descriptions in the first
volume was made by a profligate and unprincipled man of the name of Badini,
then Poet to the Opera-House. Whenever he was in want of money, he used
to withhold his manuscript, and thus stop the progress of the work, which
never failed to produce the effect he aimed at — afresh supply from Sir
Richard's purse ! Badini was sent out of the country from political causes.
The Introduction to the work was from the pen of Visconti.

Dissertation on ancient Greek Games, 4to. 1800, with engravings [by James
Christie.]

388

SEVENTH DAY.

give such a magnificent Establishment every degree of
Royal support, but, infected with the Matrix and Pun-
cheon-Mania, he had even contemplated the erection of a
royal printing office within the walls of his own Palace !

Books Printed at the Shakspeahe Press.

The Father^s Revenge, a Tragedy : and other Poems, by the lit Hon. the Earl of
Carlisle, 1800, 4to. with Engravings, after designs by R. Westall.

This very beautiful volume was printed solely for the purpose of distribu-
tion among his Lordship's friends, and was never published.

Fabliaux, or Tales abridged from French Manuscripts of the 12th and 13th centuries
by M. le Grand, translated by Gregory Lewis Way, Esq. 1800, 2 vols, royal Bvo.
Ornamented with vignette wood-cuts. The first volume of these most elegant
pieces was finished some time before the second, owing to Mr. Way's ill
state of health, and the tiresome delay of the wood engraver who executed the
blocks for the second volume. The preface, notes, and appendix, were
written by that accomplished scholar, the late George Ellis, Esq. on whom
also devolved the melancholy task of finishing the second volume ; his friend
Mr. Way dying whilst it was in the press. These volumes are now of rare
occurrence. A reprint of the work has lately appeared in crown octavo.

Poetry of the Antijacobhi, 1801, 4to. Without alluding to the circumstances
which gave birth to this edition of these popular compositions, I can safely
say that it is a most beautifully printed volume. Some persons may, and no
doubt do, greatly regret the absence of the graphic embellishments from Mr.
Gillray's pencil, which were originally intended to have accompanied it; but
I leave it to those yet living, with whom this edition originated, to explain
why they were suppressed. As it is, however, every admirer of beautiful
printing ought to place a copy of it on his shelf.

Le Veritable G6nie de Christ ianisme, ou Oeuwes Choisies de Bossuet, 1802, 3 tomes,
8vo. As a specimen of beautiful printing, I greatly regret that this work was
not completed by Mr. Bulmer. The third volume, owing to the editor's
embarrassments, was executed elsewhere, in a very inferior style.

Descriptions and Figures of Two Hundred Fishes ; collected at Vizagapatam, on
the Coast of Coromandel. By Dr. Patrick Russell. Published by order of
the Court of Directors of the Hon. the E. I. Company, 1802-3, 2 vols, fohot

The Arabian Nights Entertainments, translated by the Rev. E, Forster, 1802, 5 vols.
8vo. There are copies in royal octavo and quarto, which latter are exceedingly
beautiful, and now uncommon. The embellishments to this popular work,
fi'om the pencil of Smirke and the gravers of Heath, Wan-en, Angus, Engle-
heart, and others, are perfectly delightful ; and I consider it almost the
first legitimate specimen, in chronological order, of classical and appropriate
decoration.

SEVENTH DAY.

389

Lorenzo. One of His Majesty's principal hopes and
wishes was, for his own country to rival the celebrity of
Parma in the productions of Bodoni ; and I remember to

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.
Tlie Book of Common Prayer, with an Introduction, by John Beeves, Esq. 1802,
8vo, 12rao. and royal 8vo.. Three equally beautiful editions, and formidable
rivals of the best of Baskervilie's. Some notice of thera has been taken in
vol. i. p. viii.

The Passage of Mount St, Gothard, a Poem, 1802, folio, by the late Dutchess of
Devonshire, with an Italian translation by Sig. Polidori ; privately printed.

Anacreontis Odana, Gr. d E. Forster, A.M. 1802. Ornamented with vignettes after
designs by Miss Bacon (now Mrs. Forster) beautifully printed. A few copies
were taken off on French paper, and certainly nothing ever excelled the
beauty and clearness of these impressions. See Introd. to the Classics, vol. i.
p. 152.

Giraldi Cambrensis Itinerarium Cambria., ^c. <^c. a Ric. Colt Hoare, Bar. 4to.
1804.

Howlett's Views in Lincolnshire, 1805, 4to. Tlie large paper is a very elegant book .

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, 1806. Translated by Sir R. C.
Hoare, Bart, with notes : illustrated with views by Byrne, 2 vols. 4to. Never
was the ' otium cum dignitate' better devoted than in the completion of this
arduous and entertaining work. Old Giraldus is a most valuable gossiping
historian; and the testimonies of Warton and Henry are warm in commen-
dation of him. The publication is in every respect admirable; and copies
upon LARGE PAPER * tell well.'

On the Architecture of Wales, 1806. By Sir R. C. Hoare, Bart. Only 20 copies
for private circulation.

Richardson's Dictionary of the Arabic and Persian Languages, by Charles Wilkins,
Esq. 1806-10, 2 vols. 4to. with 50 copies on large paper. This work does
great honour to every one engaged in its execution. A more stubborn task
can with difficulty be conceived.

Jones's Grammar of the Persian Language, by C. Wilkins, Esq. 4to.

^ Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, by C. Wilkins, Esq. 4to,

These, and some other Oriental Works, do great honour to Mr Bulmer's
press,

A Disquisition on Etruscan Vases, 1806, [by James Christie] sm. folio, with
engravings, privately printed. Copies, which have found their way into
sales, have brought as much as 16l. It is but justice to say of the highly
respectable author of this work, and the Dissertation on the Greek Games,
that their ingenuity and learning raise him to a considerable eminence in the
class of tasteful writers upon virtu.

The Poems of Ossian in the original Gaelic, with a Latin translation, ^c. ^g. 2 vols.

390

SEVENTH DAY.

hslve heard an amusing tale hereupon, called the Bodoni-
Hum* — but, at this moment, I only know that His Majesty
was completely and joyfully token-in, by bestowing upon

Books Printed at the Shakspeaee Press.

1 807, royal 8vo. An expensive work ; which fell almost still-bom from the
press. There are some curious circumstances connected with this publication
which cannot be mentioned here.

Bentldi et Aliorum Epistole a Bev. Car. Bumey, 1807, 4to, Privately printed. Of
the small paper 60 copies only were struck off, on which account it is of rarer
occurrence than the large ; of which 150 appear to have been printed.

Prolegomena in Honierum, ^c. <^c. a R. P. Knight, 1808, 8vo. Privately printed ;
only 50 copies struck off. In two instances, where copies have come under
the hammer, they each brought 7 guineas. It was reprinted sometime
afterwards, with additions, in Mr. Valpy's Classical Journal.

Memoir of the Life of the late Duke of Devonshire, 1811, sm. 4to. privately printed.
Only 25 copies. A vastly well engraved portrait of his Grace, when young,
by Meyer, is prefixed to this elegantly printed volume.

History of Ancient Wiltshire, 1812, folio, by Sir R. C. Hoare, Bart The first volume
only of this magnificent work has yet been published. It will be matter of
great regret if it be not completed. Sir Richard is a most zealous and
enterprising antiquary ; and if taste, liberality, and costliness of decoration,
can render topographical works complete, such desiderata are never found
wanting in the productions of the author of the work under consideration.

A Catalogue of Books relating to the History and Topography of Italy, collected in
the years 1786, 7, 8, 9, 90, 8vo. 1812. By Sir R. C. Hoare, Bart, privately
printed. Only 12 copies. By the kindness of its author, I am one of the
twelve happy mortals who possess this bibliographical treasure. Yet my
opinion upon the labours of Sir Richard shall never ' savour of a bribe !'

Essay m the Origin, History, and Principles of Gothic Architecture, 1813, imperial
4to. by Sir James Hall, Bart.

Letters and Miscellaneous Papers of Barre Charles Roberts, Student of Christ
Church Oxford, with a Memoir of his Life, 1813, 4to. privately printed.
Mr. Roberts, the son of Edward Roberts, Esq. of Ealing, was a youth of
great promise ; and there are in this volume, sufficient proofs that had he
been destined to enjoy a longer life, he would have attained to considerable
eminence both as a numismatic writer and a topographical historian and anti-
quary. He was cut off at the early age of 21. He possessed a valuable
collection of coins and medals, which were purchased, after his decease, by
the Trustees of the British Museum.

Translation of the Andria of Terence, 1814. small 8vo. Translated by a well-
known Baronet, and privately printed, and presented to the translator's friends.

* See p. 396 post.

SEVENTH DAY.

391

the efforts of Mr. Bulmer's press that eulogy which he had
supposed was due exclusively to Bodoni's.

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.
I acknowledge the obligation of a copy of it. There were only eight copies
printed upon imperial quarto— and one of these, belonging to his Grace
the Duke of Devonshire, has been recently bound by Lewis in a manner the
most exquisite and costly. The translator will not complain of such a recep-
tion of his gift !

Ufe of Lord Viscount Barrington, 1814, 4to. By his brother, Shute Bishop of
^ Durham, privately printed. 100 copies. An edition in octavo was published
in the following year.

The History of the Kings of England, d[-c. by William of Malmesbury ; translated
from the Latin by the Bevd. John Sharpe, B. A. 4to. 1815. Only 57 copies
were printed upon large paper : but whether large or small, this handsome
and intrmsically valuable work should find a place upon the shelf of every
student and lover of English history.

A Catalogue of Books relating to the History and Topography of England, Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland, 1815, 8vo. By Sir R. C. Hoare, compiled from his
library at Stourhead in Wiltshire, privately printed. Only 25 copies.
Sorrow and joy go hand in hand in this world ; and I am one of the mourners
after a copy of this desirable volume ! I believe six copies only of the 25 aspired
to the proud distinction of large paper.

Port7'aits of the Sovereigns of the Turkish Empire, with Biographical sketches in
English and French, large folio, by John Young, Esq. Mezzotinto Engraver
to His R. H. the Prince Regent, &c. This work was undertaken at the
command of the late Sultan Selim, and completed under the orders of the
present Emperor of the Turks. The whole of the impression was, I believe,
sent to the Ottoman Court. It is a very magnificent work.

The Antiquities of the Arabs in Spain, by Cavannah Murphy, 1816, large folio.
I am not sure whether this work, for nobleness of design, splendour of
execution, and richness of materials, be not in every respect equal to Denon's
mighty volume upon the Antiquities of Egypt. I admit the subjects are not
exactly similar : but two Herculean folios, replete with graphic embellish-
ments of the nicest and most costly execution, may fairly be brought into com-
petition with each other. The author fell a victim to his labours!— but in the
pages before us he has put on a species of immortality. As the expenses of
this publication were enormous, the price of the volume is necessarily large
in proportion : — yet where is the man of virtu, with pistoles m his purse,
who will not hasten to unstring this said purse to possess such a treasure ? If
the day be dull, or the night long, let these ' Antiquities of the Arabs in Spain,'
by Cavaimah Murphy, be a constant, as they will be a cheering, companion !

The History of the Arabs in Spain, &c. 4to. 1816. This volume forms an almost
indispensible companion to the preceding work.

392

SEVENTH DAY.

LiSARDo. This is amusing enough : yet Bodoni has
justly received a very large share of reputation ;* and I own
that all Europe is under considerable obligation to him.
To proceed, however. The period of the establishment of
the Shakspeare Press, was that of the introduction of a taste

Books Printed at the Shakspeare Press.

It is with no small degree of awkwardness, that I venture to mention those
works, executed at the Shakspeare Press, of which I have been the humble
instrument of bringing before the public. But as my criticism is purely typogra-
phical, I may be allowed to notice the splendour of the 2nd and 3d volumes of
the Typographical Antiquities of Great Britain — especially of the 3d volume — and
to request the reader to unite his suffrage to ray own in praise of the copies upon
LARGE paper ; whlch, from the union of the red and black inks, the propor-
tioned spaces, the boldness and singularity of the cuts, render these books quite
beautiful of their kind. The Bibliotheca Spenceriana, 4 vols. 8vo.— considering
the bulk of the volumes, and the quantity of matter introduced, is perhaps the
most brilliant bibliographical production in existence — on the score of mere
typographical elegance. No pains were spared in procuring the best paper
and types, and no remuneration held back which might entitle its author to
expect the choicest workmanship of the office in question. His expectations, how-
ever sangume, were abundantly verified ; and the Noble Owner of the book-
treasures, which these volumes elaborately describe, will, I fondly hope, find in
them a monument to his memory and worth at least as permanent as that of
marble or brass. There were only 55 copies struck off upon large paper, in
royal quarto ; wliich are of the nicest possible execution, and necessarily rare.
Of this number, eight were selected by Lord Spencer himself for presents, t

While upon the topic of these volumes, (always a cherished one by myself) I
might venture upon a digression, or rather episode, containing two very opposite
recitals. I might, in the first place, touch a chord not exactly in unison with the
pleasanter emotions of the heart— and, in the second, strike some half dozen
strings which might vibrate to its most delightful sympathies. The reader, I see,
is about to prepare himself for a concert : thinking upon that scarce and choice
little tome entitled ' A proper neiu Boke of the Armony of Byrdes. Imprynted by
John Wyght — beginning tlms : —

When Dame Flora

In die Aurora

t The Repruits of rare books for the Roxburghe Club will be mentioned
hereafter, in the Ninth Day : but let the reader, ere he quit this partial enu-
ineration of volumes printed at the Shakspeare Press, just throw his eye over the
pages of the present work — and ask himself whether he ever saw the like before ?'
* See p. 396 post.

SEVENTH DAY.

393

for printing upon wire-wove, cream-tinted, and hot-pressed
paper : a taste, which has been generally and sharply
ridiculed, and which doubtless required much judicious
regulation ; but it is not a small triumph for the lovers and
abettors of that taste, to find the very work, in which such

Had couered the medowes with flowers
And all the fylde
Was ouer dystylde
With lusty Aprell showers.
&c. &c. &c.

But no such thing : he must expect no such dainty fare. In the first place, then,
the work under consideration was no sooner published than it was out of print.
jPfot, courteous reader, that every copy was bon^-lide disposed of to private pur-
chasers : for within the sound of St. Paul's clock stood a pile of some .... copies ;
and within the hearmg of the Palace Clock at St. James's, stood another pile,
of somewhat less gigantic dimensions. Be it knovm that, for myself, I had fol-
lowed the precept of Nelson — and, like an Englishman, had ' done my duty.'
Not three copies were in my own possession. But what did the owners of these
respective piles of copies ? Did they cry out, with the author of Dives Pragma-
ticus, (' A boohe .... very preaty for children to rede.')

' What lacke you, my masters? come hither to me.'? Sign, B.j.

They did no such thing : one party would scarcely sell at all, and neither party
would sell without a premium, which might have startled the most thoroughly
educated Levile. The consequence was, when the work was made complete by
the publication of the ivth and last volume, the price was necessarily double that
of the original one. Now came the re-action. There were no buyers — for who
would give 18 or 20 guineas for any raisonne book-catalogue ? In consequence,
certain shafts were shot at the author ; and a Sunday Newspaper, the editor of
which is both a man of talent and probity, suffered his publication to be the
vehicle of statements which had no foundation but in the brains of Aristides —
which statements supposed that I had threatened a conflagration* of all the copies

* I am proud of recording the gallantry and spirit of Mr. John Major,
bookseller, of Skinner-Street, Snow-Hill: — who stepped in to prevent this
' threatened conflagration,' by taking all the copies, then on hand, at a price
necessarily ver^' much below the one which the author had originally fixed.
The game was bold and perhaps hazardous on the part of Mr. M. ; but he has of
course my best wishes for ultimate remuneration, ' full and overflowing.'
Meanwhile it may be proper, in recording this transaction, to ask a puny critic
in a periodical Journal, how far a sacrifice of nearly IQO per cent, be demonstrative
of a lust of lucre — and of realising an ♦ immense profit on the part of the author ? '

VOL. II.

304

SEVENTH DAY.

taste was the most bitingly censured,* coming forth in all
the pomp and splendour of an Imperial Quarto, with the
surface shining like the skin of a newly-washed infant — the
result of as stiff, close, and unrelenting a hot-pressing as
was ever inflicted upon any previous publication !

Philemon. Droll inconsistency ! But proceed. You have
other Presses to notice.

of this ivth volume, not taken up within a certain period hy.my jn-ivate subscribers —
whereas, such threat (which undoubtedly would have been carried into execution)
was thrown out because certain Bibliopolists, who liad subscribedjto the three pre-
vious volumes, refused to take their proportionate number of the fourth. And
wherefore did they so refuse ? Because it was impossible for' them to procure pur-
chasers for the previous ones — from the quantity of kyan pepper which they had
sprinkled upon each set !

' (O, who can hold a fire in his hand
' By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ?')

So terminated a transaction, as vexatious as it was unanticipated — and, perhaps,
unprecedented. I am not in the habit of bearing ' malice or hatred in my heart
but I am anxious that a ' plain, unvarnished tale ' should put down all idle
gossipping and ungentlemanly imputation. No man of common sense, or moral
worth, can endure to hear with complacency the frothy nonsense or slippery
sophisms of But ' dixi.'

So much for the first episode. The second, luckil}', is not ' like unto it.' Upon
the completion of this work, carried on without intermission for nearly four years,
and with much occasional severe indisposition, the gallant Printer thereof pre-
sented its author with a richly-wrought silver cup, of an antique form. A few
select friends were invited to commemorate the day of publication ; and into this
cup (through the kindness of the Noble Owner of the volumes described in the
work in question) were i)oured three pints of fragrant and choice Tokay — pro-
cured, some thirty years ago, at Vienna ; and perhaps, in former days, an inmate
of the cellar of that great warrior and book-collector. Prince Eugene. Well !
my friends met, quaflPed, and were satisfied : and if our viands were not costly,
and the garniture of the table not resplendent, there was, at the top of it, a grate-
ful heart : and, around it, those, who may be said equally to promote and to
enjoy ' The feast of reason and the flow of soul.' The air was ' nipping and eager '
when these gallant biblioraaniacal guests said ' farewell ' — but not ' for ever !'

Suppose, as a conclusion, or gi-aphic-colophon, to these Bulmehiana, we subjoin
the physiognomy of the printer himself? Who can object.' For my own
part, I feel rather a gratification in being the instrument of probably causing it

* The Pursuits of Literature : see note at page 397", post.

SEVENTH DAY. 395

To notice only briefly, however : for the Day is getting
on, and I have set my heart upon this Abbey trip. I should
indeed be ashamed of myself, if, in the mention of Mr.

to be wafted to the shores of Italy, and to the metropolis of the great western
world. View here, Bodoni, thy British rival with complacency and satisfaction!

The foregoing list, however, must be considered but as a part only of the
publications of the Shakspeare Press. Of its other multifarious productions,
amongst which may be named the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, it is not within my province to speak in this place,

* inheritijig the taste of his Grandfather.y In a London newspaper of February
16, 1731, was the following paragraph : ' A printing press and cases for com-
posing were a few days since put up at St. James's House for their Majesties to
see the noble art of printing. The Royal Family, and several Lords and Ladies
of the household attended the exhibition yesterday.' I am unable at this moment
to lay my finger upon the authority from which the preceding memorandum
is taken.

396

SEVENTH DAY.

Bulmer's edition of Shakspeare, I had forgotten its grand
rival — the Bible of Macklin : and Mr. Benslf.y, the
printer of that, and of very many other distinguished

* the Bodoni-Hum.'] Thus it was. Messrs. Nicol and Bulmer, like very many
other human beings before them, ' once on a time ' ' laid their heads together '
to produce a specimen of printing, in the Latin language, so completely resem-
bling that of Bodoni, that ' the pretty cheat ' sliould not be known. This, in the
outset, was no doubt paying a compliment to the great Parma typographer. The
specimen selected was, about four pages, in a large octavo form, from the
Offices of Cicero. Mr. G. Nicol shewed it to his Majesty, who instantly ex-
claimed : ' Ah, if Bulmer could print like this V Whereupon the said Mr. G.
Nicol archly and adroitly replied — ' What your Majesty sees, is the production
of the Shakspeare Press !' ' Henceforth,' said the publisher and the printer,
* let this merry interlude be entitled the Bodoni-Hum.' There were but very
few copies of this ' Hum ' printed ; of which, however, I possess one. It is
really the very perfection of the art of printing, and is quite consoling to gaze
upon after examining ' the every day ' productions of the same art. Yet re-
member, curious reader — it is in the Latin language. See what is said hereupon
at page 381 : and ask yourself whether the same effect would have been pro-
duced from any modem European language ?

* Bodoni— frohahly received too large a share of reputation.'] I diifer here from
my friend Lisardo : yet Bodoni cannot complain of the ingratitude of the age in
which he lives. He has been both happy and indefatigable in the profession
which he has chosen ; and which, now ' three score years and ten,' he yet pursues
with all the ardour of youth, and all the confidence of a veteran. In tlie IVeiu
Monthly Magaziiie for December, 1816, there is an interesting memoir relating
to Bodoni — written by Professor Morgenstcm. That eminent printer is therein
described as ' a robust and dignified man : vehement ; still full of vigour, and in-
cessantly intent upon bringing to perfection that art he has already carried so far.'
His house and office are described as ' spacious, open, and lofty ;* and the Professor
describes his visit as taking place while the typographical veteran was ' carvmg
types for his Manuel Typographique.' They afterwards seated themselves ' round
a large table.' Bodoni was deaf, but his wife acted as an interpreter : and the
old man, in the pride and fullness of his heart, first brought the Professor his
Oratio Dominica, in clv languages, and his Homer's Iliad — of which see some-
what at p. 377 ante. Of the Homer, it is known that only two copies (one for
Buonaparte, and the other for the Viceroy of Italy,) were executed upon
VELLUM : and the Professor was gratified by seeing ' a few proof sheets ' at that
time by him. ' In the blackness of the larger letters, and the extreme care with
which the evenness of their impression has been finished with the brush, I have
never seen any-thing (continues the Professor) of the kind to be compared with
the sheets he shewed me.' The same authority thinks that this work, and the

SEVENTH DAY.

397

works,-|- has rendered himself highly eminent in the glorious
art which he has so long and so honourably exercised. I am
getting on tender grounds Comparisons of Living TypO'

Callimachus, in uncial letters, (see p. 356 ante) are among the more successful
of the larger ones from the Bodoni-press. This criticism is perfectly just.

Bodoni, upon the vphole, has been probably more fortunate in his smaller than
in his larger publications. His letter is generally tall, slim, and perhaps feeble :
hence its superiority of appearance in minor publications. Yet he has done
noble things in the quarto and folio forms. His grand distinctive characteristic
is TASTE. ' Whatever he touches he adorns.' He has been also particularly
fortunate in the tone and texture of his paper. In his inks, he is less black and
brilliant than Didot. His mode of pagination is sometimes vastly pleasing in his
smaller vvorks ; and there is a clearness and finish about vvhatever comes from
his office, that bespeak the anxiety and integrity of the quarter whence it is
issued. Professor Morgenstern thinks ' his various Grtek types of the form that
really belongs to the genuine character of the Greek letters and adds (a little
sljly methinks) ' a commendation, to which, however, we may feel disposed to
confer it, certain recent attempts are not entitled ; laudable as they may be in
other respects.' What are the ' recent attempts ' here alluded to ? Those of the
University of Cambridge, in adopting the Porson Greek type ? If so, the Pro-
fessor speaks ' without book ' — and may be told to ' go to school, and learn more
wit ' — as it is emphatically expressed in the play of " All the birds in the air,
and all the fishes in the sea.' For truly, the Greek types of both Baskerville and
Bodoiii (much resembling each other) are like no Greek characters which it has
been my chance to meet with m the examination of sundry Greek MSS. of the
earlier ages. Bodoni's types are pleasing, and picturesque — but the models, left
by Porson, are ' the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ' — and
what would you more ? In the year 1804 was published the ' Edizioni Bodoniane
esegtdte in Parma ; and, lately, some additions to this interesting list have been
put forth. Upon the whole, considering the interval between Corallus and
Bodoni, the latter has proved himself to be quite worthy of the improvements
which a lapse of more than three centuries may be justly supposed to have
effected. ' Fortunate Senex 1 ' Yet see Mr. Home's Introd. to the Study of Bib-
liography, vol. ii. p. xcv, for a very full detail of the labours of this ' happy old
man.'

* such taste — the most bitingly censured.] See p. 199 of the 4to. edition of
The Pursuits of Literature. It cannot therefore be affirmed that the author of that
censure has shewn himself, Longinus-like, to be ' the great sublime lie draws.'

t Mr. Bensley, the printer of' that and (if very many othei- distinguished works,']
BuLMER, Bodoni, and Bensley! Most singular, yet not most unpleasing,
alliteration ! Of Mr. Bensley ' my purpose is now to speak.' While the Shakspeare
Gallery and the Shakspeare Press were laying such fast hold of the tongues and
the purses of the public, a noble spirit of rivalry was evinced by the Macklins

398

SEVENTH DAY.

graphical Professors are ticklish things: yet I will not
smother the impulse which I feel to speak roundly and
gallantly in favour, first of all, of the Living Father of the

Books Printed by Mr. Bensley.
of Fleet-Street. Reynolds, West, Opie, Fuseli, Nortlicote, Hamilton, and others,
were engaged to exercise their magic pencils in the decoration of what was called
The Poet's Gallery — aud, among other specimens of this national splendour and
patriotism, came forth an edition of Thomson's Seasons, in 1797, in royal folio,
from the press of Mr. Bensley : a volume quite worthy of the warmest eulogies.
It had also the rare felicity of not heing debased by second-rate engravings.
Meanwhile the pencil of Loutherbourg was called into requisition to supply, in
particular, head and tail pieces, or vignettes, for a sumptuous folio edition of The
Bible : and that sacred book, in seven broad folio tomes, came regularly before
the public with every fascination which a bold type, raven-glossy ink, and
Whatman's manufactured paper, could bestow upon it. The engravings, from the
paintings of all the artists above mentioned, were, in the main, worthy of the
vehicle by which they were ushered into public notice. The Bible of Mackliu
wanted, however, the Apocalypse: and, within this last twelvemonth, such
desideratum has been supplied, in the same splendid manner, from the same press,
Hume's History of Englaiid 'followed hard upon' this Bible, in ten volumes of
a folio form of better proportion. I saw this fine work while at press ; and as the
sheets came fresh and ' dank' from the frisket, the appearance of the printed
text (as is always the case) was most beauteous and exhilarating. The engravings
which adorn this magnificent work were executed from the paintings in the fore-
mentioned Gallery ; and upon the whole I am not sure (probably from the
uniform appearance of the soiled body of the text, compared with the same in the
Bible, divided into columns and broken into verses) whether this latter work have
not greater admirers than its precursor. The medallic and emblematic engravings
in it, are, many of them, quite admirable. In publications of a minor form, I
own that the Shipwreck, published by Mr. Miller in 1804, and an edition of
Junius in 1794, 2 vol. 8vo. are, with me, among the most estimable specimens.
Yet the octavo Shahspeare (1803, 7 vol.) and History of England (1803, 10 vol.)
especially upon large paper, exhibit a singularly happy union of rare attain-
ments in printing and wood-engraving. Nor, as we are now touching the minor
chord in chaunting the praises of theBensleian productions, must we forget the very
elegant impressions of Pope's Works, published by Roveray in 1805, with some
brilliant copper-plate embellishments. Of these, as well as of the same poefs
version of Homer's Iliad, there were 250 copies printed in a royal form, and 100
upon imperial octavo. Let Dulau's Virgil of 1800, 8vo. 2 vol., with plates of
probably still greater merit, also come in for its share of commendation. We had
better throw the remainder of this notice of Mr. Bensley's press into a sort of
raisonnde form : premising that Mr. Bensley's earliest attempts at fine printing
are seen in Lavater's Physiognomy of 1789, 4to. 5 volumes : the copper plates

SEVENTH DAY.

399

Puncheon and Matrix, ycleped John Nichols ;* who,
Septuagenarian as he is, hath yet preserved the elastic
spirits of youth; talks of his Bowyer, and brandishes

Books Printed by Mr. Bensley.
of which, upon the whole, have scarcely been equalled. The Gentle Shepherd
of Allan Ramsaij, in English and Scottish, 1790, 8vo. and the^iate Mr. Huddes-
ford's celebrated Salmagundi, in 1791, 4to.

Wyntown's Originale Cronyhil of Scotland, 1795, 8vo. There were 28 copies printed
npon large paper. The typographical execution of this work is exceedingly
delicate, and its editorial skill, I learn, in every respect equal to its beauty.

The Gardens, translated from De Lille, 1798, 4to. There were 8 copies upon
large paper, and one copy only upon vellum.

The Sovereign, a Poem by Sir James Bland Burgess, 1800, folio. If the Emperor
Paul had afterwards ' cut as good a figure' as this beautifully printed book
will always continue to do, he might at this moment have been master of all
the Russias. Mr. Bensley has probably never gone beyond this volume in
his typographical achievements.

Enchanted Plants, Fables in Verse, 1800, 8vo. Two copies only upon vellum,
and 3 upon coloured paper : finely wrought.

Festival of the Rose, 1802, 4to. Six copies only were printed upon large paper,
and (still more enviable acquisition!) one only upon vellum.

Astles' Origin of Writing, ^-c. 1803, 4to. Of this beautifully and really interesting,
although not sufficiently erudite work, there were 100 copies struck off" upon
large paper of a royal folio form : a number, too many by 75. The typo-
graphical execution of it is quite masterly. The same plan was adopted in
the publication of Cooper Willy ams's Voyage up the Mediterranean, 1802, 4to:
a plan, which generally causes repentance on the part of the publisher.

Religious Emblems, 1809, 4to. This singular work is particularly interesting, from
the very splendid manner in which the wood cuts are all struck off upon
India paper.

Riddell's History of Mountains, 1809, 4to. 3 vols. Accompanied by a plan, or
picturesque scale, of the relative heights of the great mountains in the world :
conceived and executed with singular ability and success. The work itself
was almost entirely destroyed by fire : so that copies ' hold up their heads'
in the market.

Singei-'s History of Playing Cards, <^c. 1816, 4to. It is seldom that the public
have seen a more beautifully planned and executed work than the present.
The fac-simile engravings upon wood cannot be surpassed. The entire im-
pression is limited to 250j copies ; so that, when its intrinsic worth and
extrinsic beauty be considered, the curious will not fail to secure copies
whenever they make their appearance.

* See p. 401, post.

400

SEVENTH DAY.

his rectangular-headed cane with all the pardonable con
sciousness of the merit attached to ' such a pair ' of names !
And, secondly, let the potent Strahan * have his due

Books Printed by Mr. Bensley.
Fairfax's Tasso, 1817, 8vo. Fifty copies are upon large paper; but ' large' or

small, this most elegantly printed work cannot fail to strike the eye of the

man of taste, and to produce a sort of magnetic influence upon his purse.

The wood-cuts, prefixed to each book, from the steel of Thomson, have a

finish and brilliancy which may almost defy competition.
It has also fallen to Mr. Beiisley's good fortune to reprint some of our scarcer,
and once popular, pieces : such as The Caveat for Cursitors, (of which two copies
only were exquisitely printed upon India paper) Webbe's Discourse on English
Poetry with that of Puttenham, Daniel, Camjnon, ^c; Miscellanea Antiqua ; and
the Dialogues of Creatures Moralised — of most of which my worthy friend Mr. J.
Haslewood is the diligent and accurate editor. They are all ' got up in a
gentlemanly style' — as Mercutio oftentimes expresses it — and do Mr. Bensley
much credit. It remains now to notice rather a phenomenon connected with the
press of which we are speaking. After great toil, trial, and proportionally heavy
expense, Mr. Bensley has completed the establishment of a self-working p'css,
which prints on both sides of the sheet by one and the same operation — and
throws off 900 copies in an hour ! This really does seem magical. It is certainly
without precedent. Yet a word hereupon. What will be the result, in a national
point of view, of such experiments ? And what is to become of an overgrowing,
and (as it should seem from recent experience) half starved population, if such
experiments continue to be tried with the same success ? In adapting the means
to the end, of any process, or object, or manufactory, the question is not simply,
which are the readier — but which are the wiser-means? Which produces the
greater quantum of human happiness ! ? If, as in Scotland, lace, tambour-work, and
other similar manufactures, be wrought by a merely mechanical operation — by
steam-engine performances — (and the quicker and cheaper, the better!) then the
legislator may lift up his eyes, and bethink him of what is to become of the
honest yeoman's numerous family— of the stimulus held out for human industry
and the reward for human virtue ! We shall truly, in due time, become a nation
of beggars — but prodigiously ingenious nevertheless ! Rome is said to have fallen
beneath the immensity of her own weight : and modern Europe may be im-
poverished by her refinements in the saving of manual labour. Every thing is
threatened by steamijication. Anon, we shall eat, drink, sleep, and fight our
foes, with sword or pen, by means of steam — moving, as it were, upon the face of
the globe with all the mechanical precision of Mr. Wicks's steel tarantula !

These ideas are not thrown out with the motive, or the possibility, of injur-
ing the reputation of Mr. Bensley. He has a right to put in practice what

* See p. 404, post.

SEVENTH DAY

401

share of respectable notice; from whose many-engined
office proceed works of all ' characters and colours :' gene-
rally, however, of a grave nature — ^if we except the Statutes^

modern authorities, of great weight, seem both to countenance and to adopt.
It now only remains to sum up tliese Bensleiana by contemplating the phy-
siognomy of Mr, Bensley himself. He is here ' done to the life ! '

• living Father of the said ' Punchem and Matrix^ ycleped John Nichols.]
It is with emotions of no ordinary gratification that I venture upon my ' brief
chronicle' of this excellent old man— whose elasticity of mind and soundness of
body (' mens sana in corpore sano') are not over-estimated in the frolicksome
language of Lisardo. Scarcely a week has elapsed, since, in the midst of Decem-
ber snows, I visited him and his family at Islington — his native place, and des-
tined to be his dying one. The ' Septuagenarian '—(he is now two years beyond
that usual term of man's life) was hearty, cheerful, and as anxious as ever about
the success of literary projects. When I had given him a rough sketch of the

402

SEVENTH DAY.

and the Journals of both Houses of Parliament, which, it
must be admitted, are infinitely diverting and humorous !

manner in which the names and memories of the more ancient printers of cele--
brity had been treated in these inefficient pages, the ' old boy ' gave such tokens
of satisfaction as led me to hope that I had not rashly executed the important
task undertaken : ' for (says he) if I am not deep in the lore of Fust, Jenson, and
Gering—if I am not worthy to hold up the garment of Aldus, Philip Giunta,
Froben, Oporinus and Plantin — I have at least learnt the art under a master,
who, for integrity and erudition, may possibly vie with either !'

The labours of Mr. Nichols have been briefly and unostentatiously made
known to the public through the medium of the vith volume of his Littrary
Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century. They are neither few nor unimportant ;
but hi% Leicestershire must be considered as his ' magnum opus:' and 'rare birds'
copies of them are, in perfect condition :— but, upon large paper, (' o che boccone!')
they are rarer than white crows ! The Gentleman^ Magazine is perhaps the most
popular testimony of the labours of its indefatigable editor — and even yet, while
his sun is setting with so warm a glow that its declension is scarcely perceptible,
even yet does Mi*. Nichols superintend every sheet of its composition ! — he himself
telling us that it contains

No line, which dying, he would wish to blot.'*
Rare and enviable felicity ! We shall now touch a more alfecting chord. In his
sixty-second year — (1808) after having fractured his thigh, by a fall, the pre-
ceding year — Mr. Nichols was doomed to experience a calamity, which it re-
quired all his energies as a man, all his resignation as a christian, and all the con-
solation arising from the weight of his public character, as a member of society,
to sustain — ' the destruction of his printing-office and warehouses, with the whole
of their valuable contents, by fire.' The conflagration of one dreadful night
laid low the hopes, and dissipated the harvest, of fift}' previous years indulgence
and collection ! All seemed to be one wide waste of desolation. The pang of
sufferance was doomed however to be short, although severe ; for within twenty-
four months of the first ascending spark, (herein, more fortunate than his prede-
cessor, Thomas Junta : see p. 254, ante) new walls, new rooms, new warehouses,
peace, plenty, and prosperity, seemed again to smile around : and, taking up the
harvest-simile,

laughing Ceres re-assumed the land.

Wherefore could this have happened ? In what other country could such sym-
pathy and such efficient aid have been shewn? The reason and the answer need
not be here dilated upon : and perhaps the most glorious moment of Mr.

* ' he can truly say that he never wrote a single line, either in the Magazine
or elsewhere, that he would not, at the time, have avowed had it been necessary,
or that he now wishes to recall.' Lit, Anecd, vol, vi. p. 628.

SEVENTH DAY.

403

Nor, since you have got me fairly and warmly among the
living brethren of the matrix and puncheon, will I evince

Nichols's existence, was that in which he had almost sorrowed and despaired as
' without hope.' The bibliomaniac, in the very ' pride and naughtiness ' of his
heart, might have hailed tliis catastrophe as conferring threefold value upon
those productions, in his own possession, which, executed in the same office, had
escaped the ravages of the flame— but a Father and his Family, at such a crisis,
could look only for protection and brotherly love where . . . No more of this !
Let us conclude — if not ' right jollily' — at least in a cheerful and Christmas-like
mood.

Does the caustic typographical critic ask ' if Mr. Nichols be a fine printer ?
Not a ' fine fellow, ' but a fine printer ? I answer, that, compared with the
modern Jenson and Plantin, before noticed, Mr. Nichols must not be called by
such a name : but the Projector, in 8vo. the Craven, in 4to. and, more than either,
the Hertfordshire and Durham, in folio, are quite sufficient testimonies of the
skill and beauty with which the quondam -Bowyer press is yet conducted.
And so, when the foregoing question is asked respecting ' the beauty of Mr.
Nichols's press,' let Messrs. Chalmers, Whitaker, Clutterbuck, and Surtees, take
up the gauntlet which such sceptic throws down. These gentlemen have tougher
bulls' hides to their shields, for the protection of the ' old boy,' than I can pre-
sume to boast of. But what have we here ? The very Septuagenarian himself! —
with his ' rectangular-headed cane' — (obliged to be omitted here, but seen in the
original of Edridge) about to give a rap upon the pericranium of the saucy Zoilus
who dares question the loveliness of the forms of his puncheons !

404

SEVENTH DAY

my tardiness in entwining the brows of Collingwood and
Taylor, (learned brothers in the typographic art *) with a
laureated m-eath which shall neither become ' sere and

* the potent Strahan.'] Mr. Andrew Strahan is both a member of parlia-
ment, and a joinf-patentee ])rinter to his Majesty — bis coadjutors being Messrs
Eyre and Reeves : and like his father's friend, Mr. Gibbon, bis vote is not only
' counted in the day of battle,' but, happier fate ! he has not been ' overlooked in
the division of the spoil.' The apparatus, by means of which Mr. Strahan wields
his immense concerns, is vast and ' potent and both in town and country his esta-
blishments of presses, foremen, compositors, and apprentices, bespeak the weight
and the aflSueiice of the quarter from which they are put into motion. Lisardo, I
think, has been a little too volatile in describing the leadhig works from the press
of Mr. Strahan. He should have mentioned the Cyclopedia edited by Dr. Rees :
an admirable specimen of a publication of immense extent, of minute and skilful
workmanship, and even of elegant execution. The paper might have contained less
cotton i but think, gentle reader, of the price of orthodox-manufactured paper in
this country ? Mr. Strahan's new edition of Rymer's Fxdera (of which at present
only two volumes, in folio, have appeared) is really a very elegant publication,
and might compete with but comparisons are both hideous and odious.

* Collingwood and Taylor, learned brothers in the typographic art.'] It is now
about 22 years since Mr. Samuel Collingwood has been appointed Printer
to the University of Oxford ; and it remains to be shewn how far that respectable
character has proved himself worthy of the honour conferred upon him. Among
his earlier Avorks of importance, are the Poetics of Aristotle, in 17 94, 8vo. edited
by the famous TjTwhitt ; of which only 30 copies, upon large paper, in a quarto
form, were executed, and reserved, by the delegates of the press, as appropriate
presents for distinguished characters. The possession of this treasure, in a
quarto form, is therefore necessarily almost the ne plus ultra of bibliomaniacal
ambition. The ensuing year witnessed the publication of the Opera Moralia of
Plutarch, edited by Wyttenbach, 1795 : and executed both in octavo and quarto
forms : namely, in 10 volumes of the former, and 5 volumes of the latter size.
Of the octavo only, there were 100 copies upon large paper. The splendour,
accuracy, and importance of this work have been long acknowledged by the
public. The celebrated Grenville Homer, or a Greek impression of tlie Works of
Homer, in 4 volumes 4to. edited by the late Marquis of Buckingham, the present
Rt. Hon.T. Grenville, and Lord Grenville, appeared in 1800 : of which only 50
copies (with engraved embellishments, not belonging to the small paper) were
executed upon large paper ; and still more covetable, in my humble appre-
hension, is a copy of this work than of the preceding : but upon this point
consult Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 388, and the Bibliomania, p. 658. These
copies were reserved, by the Noble Family of the Grenvilles, for pre-
sents ; and I learn, at this moment, that all the copies are disposed of — reposing
in public and private collections of almost equal distinction.

SEVENTH DAY.

405

yellow,^ from envy, nor wither from the poisoning breath of
slander and detraction ! Much have ye done ; and long may
ye live, ye praise-worthy pair, to do yet much more in the

The Poet(E Minores Gmci, just edited by Mr. Gaisford, (the very learned
Regius Greek Professor at Oxford,) holds forth, to the curious, an opportunity
of enriching their cabinets with one of the Jjfty copies only which were executed
upon large paper, in royal 8vo. The Mulieres Supplices and Iphigenia of
Euripides, from the text of Markland, were executed at a private press (which
Mr. Collingwood had in conjunction with Messrs. Cooke and Parker) long since
laid aside. It is of the date of 1811, in 2 vols. 8vo. and in one volume 4to-. Of
the latter 20 only were printed upon large paper. Karer and rarer still ! The
preceding are among the more curious, valuable, and important labours of Mr.
CoUingwood's press. I forbear touching upon their value, for the following
reason. Mr. Collingwood printed the works of the late learned and ever to be
revered Dr. Vincent, Dean of Westminster. Among them, was The Voyage of
Nearchus, and the Periplus of the Erythrean &a, 1809, 4to. in Greek and English.
The Dean had the goodness to beg my acceptance of a copy — in consequence of
what was said in allusion to him in a previous publication ; (^Bibliomania, p. 23)
and said, too, without the least personal knowledge of him. That copy was ac-
companied by a letter, of which the whole is most gratifying ; but of which a
part, relating to my theme, is most cheerfully (and ajipositely, I trust,) here laid
before the reader. . . . ' The only instance (says the Dean) in which I can testify
my gratitude to you is, by putting into your hands a Book, which may easily
have escaped your notice ; in which, if yoa find no intrinsic worth, I think yoil
will consider it as one of the neatest specimens of printing that you have seen ;
and to the honour of Mr. Collingwood, I must say, that the proofs of the
Greek came from the press almost faultless. I think him the most able printer of
the Greek of the present age. You well know the merit of this.' Now, gentle
reader, after the ' laudari a laudato viro,' I should be glad to know whether thou
dost stand in need of the ' puffavi ab homimcione ' A word yet further. Mr. Col-
lingwood equals, in matrimonial celebrity, his learned predecessor Oporinus ; who,
upon the decease of his third wife, took unto himself a jfourt/i ; see p. 183, ante.
What remains, then, but to wish Mr. and Mrs. Collingwood a merry Christmas —
and the latter, in particular, a choice copy, upon vellum, of Sanchez Disput. de
Matrimonii Sacramento — if such be in existence. That learned work, in 3 folio
volumes, (usually bound in one) teacheth wives ' how they shall haue amendes
for the " faultes escaped" in their husbands !' There is no room left for eulogy
upon Mr. CoUingwood's works executed in our own tongue — from his most tasteful
manual of Addison on the Evidences of Christianity, to the recent and gorgeous im-
pression of Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, in 4to. Will the latter be successful ?
.1 hope so.

Mr. Taylor's oil-renewed lamp (I allude to his device) need not fear collocation

406

SEVENTH DAY.

cause of classical and useful instruction ! Remember the
Stephens and Frobens of old ; and may your names
shine as similar orbs in the galaxy of the typographical
hemisphere ! For equal accuracy and beauty, let the palm
be extended to Davison and Moyes ;* while in the tiny

by the side of the modern Oporhius. Mr, Taylor is a judicious, sensible, unos-
tentatious, and scholastic printer. He has a thorough knowledge of his art, and
exhibits an application of it to such uses as do him infinite honour, and place
his name in the foremost rank of British Typographical Worthies. His ' mag-
num opus' is now in progress : the fac-simile reprint of tlie famous Codex Alex-
andrinus. See p. 367, ante. This, alone, must give him a prodigious elevation in
the eye of the well-mformed. He is also the printer of Mr. Douce's Illustrations
of Shakspeare and of Ancient Manners, 1807, 8vo. 2 vols. : a work, replete with
information and embellishments equally instructive and curious.

* Davison and Moyes."] And why not, good mister Lisardo, Woodfall too ? !
Let them all three be grouped in this note — for ' three ' (according to Mr. Gilpin)
is the true arithmetical number for picturesque grouping ! Mr. Davison is both
an excellent and an elegant printer. His Gil Bias, published by Messrs. Long-
man, Hurst, and Co. is quite worthy of the beautiful engravings with which that
edition is adorned : but his Arabian Nights, by Scott, 1811, in 6 octavo volumes,
is, to my eye, a more exquisite performance. There is a paginary proportion
about it quite perfect of its kind : nor are the copper-plates (one to each volume)
less deserving of commendation. Indeed I know not, if, upon the whole, they
do not exceed those in Mr. Miller's beautiful edition — described at page 388,
ante . . . Mr. Moyes is a printer of extreme carefulness and accuracy. No man
is more zealous, or takes greater pains. His Arthur of Little Britain, in 1814,
is a delicious little pot quarto : and the copies of it, upon large paper, are at once
splendid and rare. These latter have the fac-similes from the old MBS. coloured ;
and so indeed have some copies in the muior form. JVJr. Woodfall is the
laborious and spirited typographical artist to whom we are indebted for the
quarto reprints of our old Chronicles, and for the repi'int of Hakluyt's Voyages :
of which latter there were 50 copies executed upon large paper — all, now, gone
astray ; and reposing, within their russia-coated sur-touts, upon the shelves of the
curious. I could swell the list of specimens of Mr. Woodfall's ' handy-works j'
but there is no need of it. There is a ' gaiete de cceur' about this worthy character
that makes us think ' no calling' is like the typographical one. May he long
enjoy that sun-shine of good opinion, among the more respectable of society,
which has a prodigious influence in softening down the rubs and rebuffs of human
mortality. His name is not new in public estimation ; and it is quite pleasant to
observe how becomingly the mantle of the father sits upon the shoulders of the son.
It remains to conclude this note with the mention of a work, of which

SEVENTH DAY.

407

tomes of Whittingham, from the ChiswicJc Press^ let us
acknowledge that we perceive the brilliancy of the Elzevirs
revived.* Nor shall the original Macreery be dismissed
with a slender notice. He hath done much and well in the
cause of his art : the Muse also hath descended, at the

Lisardo might in truth have made honourable mention. I allude to what may be
called the Pocket Polyglott Bibi,e about to be published by Mr. Bagster.
This Polyglott consists of six languages : namely, Hebrew, Samaritan, Syriac,
&reek, Latin and English ; and will be published in the following manner :

POCKET SIZE.

I. HEBREW with Points. — The same interleaved, with (1) Greek, or
(2) Latin, or (3) English, or (4) The Concordance.

II. GREEK. • — The same interleaved, with (1) Hebrew with Points, or
(2) Hebrew without Points, or (3) Latin, or (4) English, or (5) Concordance.

III. LATIN. — The same interleaved, with (1) Hebrew with Points, or
(2) Hebrew without Points, or (3) Greek, or (4) English, or (5) Concordance.

IV. ENGLISH. — The same interleaved, with (1) Hebrew with Points, or
(2) Hebrew without Points, or (3) Greek, or (4) Latin, or (5) Concordance.

V. HEBREW without Points. — The same interleaved, with (1) Greek, or

(2) Latin, or (3) English, or (4) Tlie Concordance.

VI. SCRIPTURE HARMONY, or BIBLICAL CONCORD.^NCE. The
same interleaved with (l) Hebrew with Points, or (2) Hebrew withoiit Points, or

(3) Greek, or (4) Latin, or (5) English.

ROYAL OCTAVO SIZE.

I. SCRIPTURE HARMONY, or BIBLICAL CONCORDANCE.

II. The same, with an Edition of the TEXT, corresponding with the foregoing,
page for page.

^ ^ QUARTO.

The Whole of the above Languages; viz. I. Hebrew; II. Greek ; III. Lathi;
IV. English; with the Heb Sam. Pentateuch.

A prospectus, containing the plan of the work, was also published by Mr. B. .
but as I was anxious to obtain every information, connected with it, which might
be likely to interest the reader, I prevailed upon Mr. Bagster to favour me with
a letter, explanatory of his views, motives, and the general nature and difficulty
of the work. That letter is here given to the public ; and will, I think, be con-
sidered rather an interesting expos6 : and I wish, in my heart, that some fortunate
rummager of the archives of Venice could restore a similar communication of
Aldus, respecting the plan of his ovm Polyglott: see p. 207. Is it mere

* See p. 410, post.

408

SEVENTH DAY.

touch of his lyre, to sing the praises of the same art ; and
in the beautifully garnished pages, from his Liverpool

romance to suppose some sucli document to be in existence ? But let us make
way for tlie Bagsterian reality :

Rev. Sir, ^ question that you put to me respecting my Polyglott Bible,
induces me to trouble you with this letter of explanation.

My ' magnum opus' (do not smile, I am serious when I thus speak of it) has
employed above four years of my life ; and when the culture is to end, and the
fruit be ripe for plucking, it is not at this moment in my power to fix : but I per-
severe with unceasing assiduity, and refresh myself with the hope that I shall at
last equally gratify the man of taste and the Biblical scholar. The proverb now
and then presents itself to my mind, ' no one asks how long that was doing which
is well done.'

This is an age when the public are fastidious respecting the correctness of
Biblical and Classical works, and therefore an attention equal to the importance
has been bestowed on this diflicult work, by editors both well qualified and dis-
posed to the undertaking. Such is my confidence in their talents and per-
severance, that I mean to venture a promise to the effect of the annexed note,
and then should it not on its publication be as correct as it will be beautiful,
notwithstanding the pains taken to accomplish it, the public have the assurance
that it shall eventually be made as perfect as the talent, zeal, and care of man
can make it ; every fault left unnoticed, cannot be justly censured by the British
public, if they fail to notice it.

The difficulties to the compositor of the Hebrew, with points, far exceeds every
other language. You are doubtless aware that everyline is composed of three distinct
lines ; i. e. points and accents both above and below the line of letters — the great
variety and minuteness of the character also add to his labour and care. I wrote
to the printer and the letter founder to display these, and one of the letters is
enclosed,* as their accounts nearly agree. The difference between the fount with

' The number of Hebrew matrixes are 82 ; these are all first cast

on a minion body, and 54 of them are again cast on a diamond body, to admit of
marks and accents being put over them. The accents and points are 25 in number,
of which there are of the thinnest sort, about 240 to the ounce.
The nmnber of boxes required to contain the fount, are

Minion Hebrew - - - 82

Spaces 4, m and n quad. 2, large quad, 1 7

Diamond Hebrev\' - - - 54

Spaces, &c. same as Minion - 7

Minikin accents and marks - 25

Spaces, &c. same as Minion - 7

182

West-Street, 16, Oct. 1816, I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

London^ G. Figgins.

SEVENTH DAY.

409

Press,f the lore of Roscoe was first given to the admiring
world ! . . . Surely, I may consider this as my peroration ?
Lysander. Yet a word, ere we break up. It would be

points, and that which is without them, is very striking. The former requires
28 points and accents, and 136 mixed letters, whereas the latter has only 32
altogether, and one stop ; a difference between the founts of 132 characters : the
first, with points, exceeduig by so considerable a number — and some are so
minute that one ounce is found to contain no less than 236.

When I embraced the design of this work, no suitable fount of Hebrew
existed ; it became therefore necessary to cut the steel punches and the brass
matrixes before the fount of letter could be cast, and thus our country is enriched
by the creation of this new fount.

The Greek and Roman type, I think, will also be admired for the delicate
neatness of their execution.

One prominent feature in this undertaking remains yet for me most particu-
larly to call your attention to : which is, that by an attentive casting off of each
page of every language, it is so managed, that with very few exceptions, every
page answers to its corresponding one in each separate language ; each one on
every page, making the same progress ; so that at the pleasure of any or every
purchaser, a combination of any two of the languages may be made. To efiFect
this, I have caused two editions of each to be printed ; the one commencing as
usual on the right hand page, and the other for interleaving on the left hand
page ; thus the corresponding page is always opposite, and not on the reverse :
so that throughout you have the same page of Hebrew and English (or any
others) on opposites in every opening of the Pocket Volumes. — This gives the
undertaking a character, which at once declares its originality, and qualifies it
for an extensive reception. To elucidate this, I enclose a card by which you
will perceive that on the day of publication, not less than 23 varieties will be pre-
sented to the public ; and which I shall have real pleasure to submit to your
inspection. It is also worthy of particular notice that two of the languages,
when combined in a single volume, will not exceed one eighth of an inch, and
consequently each single volume will be only five eights of an inch.

All that I have said, and I beg to offer an apology for saying so much, applies
only to the Poc/cet Editions; but the enclosed prospectus details the plan of
printing a quarto edition, in a single volume, having the four exhibited at each
opening of tlie volume.'

Such is the plan of this novel and interesting undertaking. The execution
corresponds with the hopes held out. The Hebrew and Greek types are of the
neatest forms ; and the latter is that of Porson. The paper is necessarily thiti
and delicate ; yet, of such consistency, that it requires absolutely rough treatment
to produce fracture or injury.

t See the next page.

410

SEVENTH DAY.

equally idle and impracticable to attempt to mete out a due
measure of commendation to every living typographical

* the brilliancy of the Elzevirs revivedJ] The peculiar characteristic of Mr.
Whittingham's printing is neatness, and even brilliancy. All his minor tomes,
like ' clapper elves,' (as the late Dr. Ferriar happily designated the Elzevir
volumes) should find places within the cabinets of the curious in typography.
The English Classics, or Popular Periodical Papers of the Spectator, &c. pub-
lished by Messrs. Sharpe and Hailes, and printed by Mr. Whittingham, are, I
really think, among the most beautiful and skilful specimens extant of modern
printing. This publication, en masse, is very much superior to the Barbou-set of
ancient classics. But why does Mr. Whittingham (and many other liardly less
distinguished printers) adopt that frightful, gouty, disproportionate, eye-distract-
ing, and taste-revolting, form of black-letter — too frequently visible in the frontis-
pieces of his books ? It is contrary to all classical precedent ; and outrageously
repulsive in itself. Let the ghost of Wynkyn De Worde haunt him till ht
abandon it !

t his Live')-pool-Press.'] Mr. Macreeey commenced his typographical career
at Liverpool by the publication (in 2 quarto volumes) of Mr. Roscoe's Life of
Lorenzo de Medici : a work, of which it were superfluous now to point out its
manifold merits. That beautiful performance was succeeded by a still more
elaborate one— from the same author — of the Life and Pontificate of Leo X. in
four resplendent quarto tomes. Of this latter there were copies upon Large
Paper ; and the printer of them is induced to think that they afford the most
favourable specimens of his typographical skill. Unquestionably the publication,
iu both forms, has every recommendation of typographical beauty. The page is
well set up ; the ink black and glossy ; the paper mellow-tinted ; the press-work
unexceptionable — and the embellishments interesting and appropriate. The
whole hath indeed a joyous air and truly classical arrangement : but tlie large
paper is now become a scarce book. Perhaps of equal, if not superior execution,
is the recent publication of Mr. Ottley's learned work upon Ancient Engraving,
with singularly happy embellishments, in two comely quarto volumes. The large
paper of this valuable work is magnificent in execution, and limited (only fifty)
in number — so that the curious and the skilful may be in every respect gratified
by the possession of it. For a mass of firm, workman-like printing, I know
nothing superior to Mr. Macreery's re-impression of Lord Berners' translation
of Froissart.

Let me now touch a somewhat jocund note. Six years have elapsed since
my particular intercourse with honest John Macreery ; arising from the Biblio-
mania having glided uninterruptedly through his press. During, and since, that
time, I am willing to believe that our opinion of each other was, and still is, of a
most favourable kind. It is well known to the world that Mr. M. hath ' wooed
the willing Muse.' His poem, called ' The Press,' is highly creditable to his zeal
and talents. But Mr. Macreery writes verse of almost every description. Some-

SEVENTH DAY. 411

artist of eminence ; but you will not pass over the reprint
of Stephen'' s Greek Thesaurus f

times in the form of a prose-httei; as thus : (sent to me during the printing of tlie
last mentioned work.) ' For speed who on a printer leans, must know he works
by human means ; and must not let his senses riot, but keep them always cool
and quiet. Our Devils, erst, were very kind, and quickly helped us to our mind ;
but now they make so great a pother, we daily pester one another ; and while
we try our friends to settle, by shewing each the other's mettle, our friends must
wait from day to day, while we decide the doughty fray ; and, then, when one
or other wins, full briskly all our work begins; and we repair the damage done,
by doing two days' work in one : now. Reverend Sir, I've done my story, and
soon will labour for your glory.' I. M'C. Let me ask whether such a speci-
men be not unique — at least, whether we have any precedent of one from Caxton
to Bowyer ? The second specimen of our Printer's poetical talents is of a more
serious, and probably more popular kind. It shall speak for itself : but let it be
only premised that, the affecting thought, expressed in the last line but seven,
is probably original. Indeed the whole, of its kind, is quite delightful ;

INSCRIPTION FOR MY DAUGHTER'S HOUR-GLASS.

Mark the golden grains that pass
Brightly thro' this channell'd glass.
Measuring by their ceaseless fall
Heaven's most precious gift to all !
Busy, till its sand be done.
See the shining current run 5
But, th' allotted numbers shed.
Another hour of life hath fled !
Its task perform'd, its travail past ;
Like mortal man it rests at last !—
Yet let some hand invert its frame
And all its powers return the same,
Whilst any golden grains remain
'Twill work its little hour again. —
But who sJiall turn the glass for Man,
When all his golden grains have ran ?
Who shall collect his scatter'd sand.
Dispersed by Time's unsparing hand i"—

Then, Daughter, since this truth is plain.
That Time once gone ne'er comes again,
Improv'd bid every moment pass —
See how the sand rolls down your glass !
■ Nov. 2, 1810. J. M. C.

412

SEVENTH DAY.

LisARDO. I thank you for the suggestion. There is,
about the Printer and PubHsher of that most arduous under-
taking,* so much well-directed zeal and proper feeling in the

* that most arduous undertaking.'] There is something beyond mere compli-
ment in this designation of the work alluded to. It is arduous in the extreme,
and perhaps not a little perilous : yet let us admire the zeal, and love of ancient
lore, which could have matured, and carried into execution, a project so vast, so
expensive, and requiring such constant, unremitting, and (I had almost said)
interminable labour. I address myself to the candid, the experienced, and the
liberal ; not to those, who, previous to the publication of the first number, were
sharpening their critical knives, and preparing other instruments of literary
torture, whereby they might inflict a severe wound, and cause premature death
to the undertaking! English critics, I trust, like English soldiers and sailors,
love fairer play than this. Nor can such attempts, after all, damp the ardour, or
slacken the exertions, of those to whose conduct the structure of this * monu-
mentum sere pereimius ' is entrusted. Let us tell an interesting and unsophisti-
cated tale.

A new edition of the Greek Thesaurus of Henry Stephen the Younger must
necessarily, in any shape, be a tremendous undertaking : especially, too, when
one thinks of the multiplicity of lexicographical and critical knowledge which has
pervaded the classical world since the first appearance of that wonderful per-
formance. Only to give an impulse, or encouragement to the plan— only
to bring the vessel to the water's edge, as it were — required spirit, strength, and
no ordinary assistance. In letters, circular notes, prospectuses, &c, announcing
the nature and extent of it, it cost tlie proprietors of the work not less than
1500Z. This was surely bold enough : for till Seven Hundred Subscribers were
secured, its progress would be uncertain, and the loss sufficiently decisive.
However, the plan ' grew' and the subscribers multiplied; and the names of
not fewer than nine-hmdred and eighty Jive of them graced the covering of the
first numbei-. Sucli a number, to such a work, is, I believe, without precedent :
and well might Lord Grenville, the Chancellor of the University of Oxford,
express a pleasurable pride in receiving the homage of the Dedication of the new
Thesaurus to himself. That Nobleman's Letter to the Printer, upon the occa-
sion of which we are speaking, does equal honour to his head and heart. Now
comes the glory of the design. All attempts which had been made towards a
new edition of Stephen's Thesaurus, in Germany, Bussia, France, and Denmark,
have not only been rendered abortive, but the materials for it, collected in those
places, have been almost voluntarily as well as absolutely poured into the capacious
reservoir of Alexander John Valpy !

The manner in which this new edition is given to the public need not be
specifically mentioned. All the classical world are aware of it ; but, for come-
Imess and proportion, the nicer collector will betake himself to the large paper.

SEVENTH DAY.

413

cause of classical literature — so much of emulation to revive
the days of the Stephens, the Alduses, and the Giunti — that
I cannot but predict a very permanent reputation to his

In the small paper, the text looks abundant and honest to excess. It was the
intention of Mr. Valpy to have struck off three copies upon vellum, at 300
guineas each copy ; but the poisoning influence of that recent, rash, and ruthless
act of parliament, respecting literary property, which gave one copy of the best
kind to the British Museum, (the least pernicious feature in such act) diverted
his intentions. Perhaps Mr. Valpy will not, in the end, repent that he could
not carry his design into elFect ; as, ere this, he would have met with more
vexations and disappointments than, in the fondness of his heart, he could have
anticipated. Of the Classical Journal, planned, printed, and chiefly conducted
by the same typographical artist, it may be here only necessary to remark that,
if room were allowed, I could mention the names of some of the first scholars in
Europe, abroad and at home, who volunteer their labours in support of it ; and
that its success has been complete beyond the most sanguine expectations. ' Esto
perpetua !' It remains to subjoin that Mr. Valpy was bred, both at school
(under his father. Dr. Valpy — the bibliomaniacal Leviathan of Reading) and at
College, professedly with a view to his present pursuit in life ; and that it was
his aim and ambition to put on that mantle which Harwood had pronounced to
have become nearly moth-eaten from disuse since the days of Bowyer. Accord-
ingly, in 1804, he gave to the world his first typographical production, which
was a small collection of Excerpts from Cicero's Epistles, in 12mo. with the fol-
lowing prefix, or address, to his schoolfellows ;

' Ad Condiscipulos mihi semper Amicissimos. Ecce vobis, Coiidiscipuli, pri-
mitias meorum in re typographica, et in prelo subjectis exeraplaribus corrigendis
laborum. Ex alveis Ciceronianis, dulcissimo sapore confertis et elegantissimo
condimento uberrime cumulatis, mellitissimos quosdam favos excerptos vobis
apponere propositum milii fuit. Quod quidem incoeptum bene vertat Deus, et
mihi, artem suscipienti, quS- Aldus et Stephani, literas exquisitissiraS, ratione
coluerunt; et vobis, ingenuis jam artibus et studio liumanitatis imbutis, mox
autem summum splendorem doctrina, moribus, pielate, in patriam effusuris.
Vestra igitur, qu&, soletis, benignitate hoc opusculum accipiatis velim, et in men-
tem aliquando revocatum habeatis, quoties, dum vobiscura in ludo versabar,
memet a vestro consortio ad hoc elaborandum receperim, Porro etiam atque
etiam deprecor ne off^endantur emunctse naris lectores maculis, quas non certe
incuria, sed quaedam artis ignorantia fuderit. Quod si his primordiis arriseritis
et vos et illi, ad quoddam majus ausum, spcro fore ut mihi me novis auspiciis
accingere olira concedatur in discipline, quam extremis tantmn digitis, ut dicitur,
attigi, et quasi primoribus labris gustavi. Valete, et favete.

A. J.V.'

Datum Readingi, Idus
Jan. A. D. 1804-.

414

SEVENTH DAY.

laudable efforts. His star is just trembling, as it were, with
a promising radiance above the horizon ; and I will venture
to prognosticate that its course will be neither limited nor
obscured.

Thus have I, only in a summary manner, given an
account of the comparative improvements in the ancient and
modern arts of printing : ' nothing extenuating, nor setting
down aught in malice.' As my attachment to the art is
enthusiastic, I cannot be supposed to be indifferent to the
success of it; and I have never intentionally thrown one
professor of it into the shade, with the idea of concentrating
the light more strongly upon those who may chance to be
more prominent in the picture. My discourse, from begin-
ning to end, must be considered as a mere corollary to the
copious and satisfactory details of my immediate predecessor.

Lysander. Forgive this apparent intrusion : but I can- ,
not suffer this well-informed circle to rise without reminding
our monarch that he has forgotten the name of Whittaker !

LisARDO. My information then, it should seem, is but
limited. Pray let us hear of him.

Lysander. I can only be brief, as I am aware of the
time running rapidly away. John Whittaker, a modest,
unassuming, indefatigable, and singularly-successful artist,*

It is now high time to say farewell to the typographical labours of Mr. A. J.
Valpy. Yet he must not be dismissed without a seasonable piece of advice ;
purely of a secondary nature. Let me entreat him to annull and expunge,
* henceforth and for ever,' that hieroglyphical, semi-astrological, but most barba-
rous, gallows-seeming, device — wherewith he omamenteth the frontispieces
of his books '. Surely Aldus, Froben, and Curio, might have taught him better
things.

* John Whittaker; a modest, unassuming, indefatigable, and singularly-suc-
cessful artist."] This eulogy is perfectly sober, because it is perfectly true; and
Mr. Whittaker, nervous as he is, will yet, I trust, summon courage sufficient to
meet the tide of success, now rising up, from all quarters, to crown his exertions

SEVENTH DAY.

415

exercises his typographical profession in a very extraordinary
manner. Give him your imperfect Caxton, and, within a
few days thereof, you shall receive it so perfected, that the

with prosperity. He is still in the vigour of life ; and capable of enduring the
most ' patient touches of laborious art !' But the business of this note shall be
irformation and not panegyric. Mr. Whittaker's Caxtonian nEPARATiONS, or
i-ather restorations, are effected in the following manner. He has caused to
be engraved, or cut, at a great expense, four founts of Caxton's letter. These
are cut in the manner of binder's tools for lettering, and each letter is separately
charged with ink, and separately impressed upon the paper. Some of Caxton's
types are so riotous and unruly, that Mr. Whittaker found it impossible to carry
on his design without having at least twenty of each such irregular letter en-
graved. The process of executing the text, with such tools, shall be related in
Mr. Whittaker' s own words : ' A tracing being taken with the greatest precision
from the original leaf, on white tracing paper, it is then laid on the leaf (first
prepared to match the book it is intended for) with a piece of blacked paper
between the two. Then, by a point passing round the sides of each letter, a true
impression is given from the black paper, upon the leaf beneath. The types
are next stamped on singly, being charged with old printing ink, prepared in
colour exactly to match each distinct book. The type being then set on the
marks made by tracing, in all the rude manner, and at the same unequal dis-
tances, observable ui the original, they will bear the strictest scrutiny and com-
parison with their prototype: it being impossible to make a fac-simile of Caxton's
printing in any other way — as his letters are generally set up irregularly, and at
unequal distances, leaning various ways, and altogether so rude and barbarous,
that no printer of our time could set up a page, or even a line, to correspond with
the original by any other means.'

The libraries of the Duke of Devonshire, and Earl Spencer, sufficiently attest
the felicity of Mr. Whittaker's performances in this ' particular branch ' of resto-
ration. The spirit of old Caxton himself could not discover the cheat !

Mr. Whittaker also informs me that he has * types engraved to correspond
with those of Wynkyn de Worde ; and others of various description, by which
he is enabled to complete any book, printed before the sixteenth century, so
exactly, that the most able judge of old printing cannot discover the restoration
from the original.' Lysander has made mention of Mr. Whittaker's restorations
of lost leaves of Fust and Schoiffher. His Majesty's library contains a most
splendid and successful specimen of this kind, in one of the leaves of the Psalter
of 1457 — supplied from that of Lord Spencer's perfect copy. And Mr. G.
Nicol, who yet retains the extraordinary vellum copy of the Mazarine Bible,
noticed in vol. i. p. 339, is sometimes even at a loss to point out which are the
two leaves (formerly wanting in it) that own Mr. Whittaker for their master.
Indeed, so singularly nice, ' cunning and curious ' is this restoration, that I am

VOL. II. C C

416

SEVENTH DAY.

deficiencies cannot be discovered. There is a sort of
witchery in his process ; in consequence, I presume, of some
nocturnal communication with the ghost of our first printer :

not sure whether bibliomaniacal gamblers might not propose a safe bet upon the
chance of its non-detection ! The mode of accomplishing these restorations is
similar to that connected wilh the Caxtonian. We now come to speak of Mr.
Whittaker's printing in Lettkrs of Gold : and, if I mistake not, the reader
is about to peruse an interesting narrative hereupon.

The Magna Carta above mentioned, constitutes, at present, the sole work upon
which this process lias been employed ; but, limited as it is, a great variety of
curious detail is connected therewith. In the first place, the maimer of prmting
is a neci'et : known only to its ingenious author and the ' nocturnal spirit' with
which Lysander supposes him to associate. The Society for the Encouragement
of Arts, over which the late Duke of Norfolk (now H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex)
presided, oifered Mr. W. a premium for his ingenuity, upon condition (as is
usual) of making the process known ; but Mr. Whittaker, aware of the import-
ance of keeping it secret, declined the premium — and of course renewed his
nocturnal visits with the aforesaid ' ghost.' It was therefore happily said to him,
by Mr. G. Nicol, that ' it ^vas well he lived in the reign of George HI. and not
in that of James I.' — ' Wherefore ?' — replied the unsuspecting artist — ' Because
(resumed Mr. Nicol) you would infallibly have been hung — if you had !' I leave
my friend Mr. DTsraeli, tlie popular champion of ' Jemmy,' to chastise Mr.
Nicol for his naughtiness ' in this matter.' To return to Magna Carta. This
sumptuous and extraordinary work consists of 12 leaves, of what may be called
broad-royal folio ; having the text of that famous charter (more precious than the
very quintessence of ' much fine gold ') printed in gothic letters, of gold, upon their
respective rectos. The limits of the text itself are seven inches and five-eighths by
five and two-eighths ; and this text is pruited either upon thick drawing paper, or
vellum, or satin ; each of the two latter sometimes varied by a ground of purple ;
thus renewing the taste of the earlier ages of blazoning, and calling forth the in-
vectives of another St. Jeroin ! But the modern St. Jerora will fulminate in vain.
The work is dedicated to the Prince Regent ; and the arms of King John, ard those
of His Royal Highness, usually precede, in the illuminated copies, the first page
of the text. The price of an unilluminated copy, upon paper, is Ql. 8s. ; of the
illuminated copies, the prices vary in proportion to the costliness of their decora-
tion—and those UPON VELLUM, having each page of text surrounded by a
drawing in imitation of a scroll, with the arms, &c. of the twenty-five Barons
who signed the Great Charter, proportionally divided, so as to form two or more
coat-armours at the top of each page — these copies, I say, are beautiful,
splendid, and characteristic, beyond any similar work (I had almost said ancient
as well as modem) which it has ever been my good fortune to behold ! The
illumination, in this manner, of the last page or leaf — which has the mitre and

Notice to the Binder.

The Binder is particularly requested to remove the slip of
gold printing at page <! 1 7, previously to binding this volume,
and to replace it after it is bound, as pressure will entirely
destroy the brilliancy of the gold. J, W.

for surely never before was there seen such wonderful
instances of restoration and perfection ! At the wave of his
wand, Caxton seems to put on perpetual youth : — nor is

crosier, &c. (in honour of Archbishop Langton) at top, and the great seal of King
John at bottom — is singularly happy and striking ! Indeed, taking it ' all in all,'
those who have not seen such a union of typographical and graphical skill, as
these illuminated copies display, can have no idea of the extraordinary felicity of
their execution.

Our own King's Library, and that of the King of Bavaria, each contains a copy
of the foregoing description : the latter superbly bound (also by Mr. Whittaker)
in purple morocco, with vellum fly-leaves, on which gothic ornaments are drawn.
The vellum copies in the libraries of the Prince Regent, the Duke of Devonshire,
and Earl Spencer, have purple grounds, and are illuminated in t)ie manner above
described ; but that of his Royal Highness contains a splendid dedication, engraved
in brass, and is ornamented with the nineteen English and Foreign Orders, and
with the arms and pedigree of the Prince. Those who have seen this emblazoned
dedication, executed by Mr. Willement, describe it to me as a piece of art infinitely
beyond all competition ! The binding of it, by Mr. Whittaker himself, is not less
magnificent : the covers being almost a complete mass of gold-ornament, appro-
priate to the times of King John. It is also lined with crimson silk, richl
adorned with gold. The copies of the Duke and Earl Spencer contain also the
coat-armours of their respective owners. To enumerate the various other copies,
of probably nearly equal splendour, in the Collections of Noblemen and Gentle-*
men, would be perfectly unnecessary. But I cannot close these remarks without
discharging a debt, equally of honour and of gratitude, due to the ingenious artis
whose labours have been the subject of this protracted note. He has been
pleased

( baud equidem tali me dignor honore)

not only to present me with a vellum copy of his Magna Carta, illuminated in
the manner of that described as being in the Royal Collection, but to furnish me,
also gratuitously, with the beautiful specimen of Printing in Gold which the
reader is now about to behold. Let, therefore, both that reader and myself
take off our hats, in a manner the most courteous, to the donor of such a ' rich
and rare' typographical gem. Here it is — glittering like the sun — when lie
' flames in the forehead of the morning sky.'

N tine heglmmmg

418

SEVENTH DAY.

Caxton alone the object of his necromantic toil. Fust and
Schoiffher have been lately indebted to his enterprise and
ingenuity for the restoration of some severed limb ; and our
Wyiikyn De Worde has also the good fortune to partake of
Mr. Whittaker's resuscitating powers. And then, in original
matters, if you could but see his Magna Carta, printed
IN Letters of Gold ! ! — and with illuminations too !

Belinda. Oh delightful accomplishment ! Let us hope
for the felicity of a sight of these wonders, shortly.

Lysander. I can promise you a treat, when you do
behold these ' wonders,' greatly beyond what you can ven-
ture to anticipate. And now, good Lisardo, one word
more — and I have done. Remember Ballantyne* —
although he live to the north of the Tweed !

* remember Ballantyne,'] I consider Mr. Ballantyne as the Jenson of the
North. Report says that the earliest essay of his press was the first edition of
Mr. Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, printed at Kelso, m 1802,
8vo, 2 vols. If it be so, the deed is quite a boastful achievement ; for two more
interesting volumes, in every respect, scarcely ever made their appearance before
the public. The notes to this work, and especially to tlie enlarged edition of it,
(in three octavo volumes) hold out models of re-editing old popular poetry ; and
I am almost barbarian enough to think that Mr. Scott's prose (what shall we say
to Waverly, Guy Mannering, and The Antiquary — must they be considered
apocryphal.') will last as long as his verse. But for Mr. Ballantyne's press.
The new edition of the Tracts collected by Lord Somers (of which 13 volumes in
quarto arc ah-eady published) is perhaps the most gigantic effort of it ; while, for
beauty, elegance, and effect, the large paper quartos of Mr. Scott's popular
poems (being, gentle reader, the first editions of them) are entitled to the
warmest approbation. Yet shall I venture upon mentioning my favourite volume,
taking tjieir graphic embellishments also hito consideration ? They are the Madoc
of Mr. SouTHEY and the Partenopex de Blois of Mr. William Stuart Rose,
each in quarto. The engravings are equally brilliant and appropriate, and har-
monise so well (whether as vignettes, or whole pieces) with the general appear-
ance of the text, and the particular interest excited by the respective tales, that
I do not see how any lover of' romaunt lore' can reconcile it to himself not to
bind these volumes in morocco of the most joyous colour !

Let the efforts, however, of Mr. Duncan of Glasgow not be lost sight of; as I
am not sure whether his zeal for classical literature be not equal to that of any
printer, even south of the Tweed, before him. The reprint of Wakefield's Lucre-

SEVENTH DAY.

419

LisAiiDO. The suggestion is well made. In Ballantyne's
press the art of printing, in Scotland, which seems to have
slumbered since the golden days of the Focjlises, is com-
pletely restored. . . But see, the sun has greatly passed his
highest altitude — and methinks I hear the neighing of the
steeds at the outer gate ! The ladies begin to be anxious to
visit the ancient abode of their sex, the once famous
Juliana Berners. Away ! Away !

The circle broke up spontaneously: but Lisardo was
resolved not to join his auditors, tiU he had carefully put
away the ornaments which had been submitted to their
notice. At length, the arrangement was satisfactorily com-
pleted. A barouche conveyed the ladies with Lysander
and Lorenzo. A ' coal-black steed' carried the impetuous
Lisardo ; while Philemon, with a more measured pace, and
upon a chestnut-tinted horse, (not wholly unlike, in colour,
some of the more delicate specimens of pale russia, from the
repositories of Messrs. Lewis, Hering, and Smith) rode
sometimes by the side of the barouche, and sometimes
pushed forward with Lisardo. The day was yet in glorious
attire. The dust however was not ungently moved ; and in
less than an hour Lisardo and Philemon first reached the
abbey walls. The company arrived in due order : nor did
they quit so congenial a spot till the rapid declension of the
sun made them think of their distance from home, and of

tilts, containing the collation of the editio princeps of the poet (in Lord Spencer's
library,) was a most spirited and successful effort. Whatever Mr. Duncan does,
has been hitherto marked with neatness and accuracy ; and the new Scapula, just
now scarcely dry from the press, is another brilliant testimony of his diligence
and good taste. Let us not despair. The age of Foulis is rapidly about to
revive — ' redeunt Saturnia regua.'

420

SEVENTH DAY.

preparation for dinner. They returned in proper time ; and
while the bodily appetite had been sharpened by so bracing
and lengthened an excursion, the mind, from the reflections
furnished by the discourse of Lisardo, and from the venerable
air of the interior of the abbey, kept pace in furnishing
an intellectual banquet. Nothing seemed wanting to a
perfectly social and congenial entertainment; and it was

* the Spirit of Juliana.'] I here make a candid confession of having borrowed
the above idea from a sly peep at a privately-printed poem, entitled ' Biblio-
graphy'— the composition of a very dear and intimate old friend. The part
more particularly connected with the subject treated of in the text, is that
which relates to the ' Ghost of Caxton, walking by moonlight in Westminster
' Abbey.' It commences (at the 314th verse) and concludes thus :

' 'Twas on a night,
A cloudless night ; when, silently, the moon,
Full-orb'd — across the monuments that tell
Of heroes slumbering in their native dust—
Her soft and silver light, and shadows deep.
Proportionate, had cast in cloister'd aisles
Of Westminster — that, pale, and bent from age,
(So dreamt Palermo) stood the ghostly form
Of Caxton ; his emaciated hands
Were gently exercised — one holding fast
His shroud sepulchral, as it trail'd behind- ■
The other, with fore-finger pointed, rais'd
To meet Palermo's level eye. AVhen thus
His feeble voice brake forth : ' 0 gentle youth,
' Whoe'er thou art, that feel'st the increasing flame
' Which on the days of yore throws light and life
' By search of printed annals; know from me,
' The Father of the British Press, who erst
' Within this venerable abbey dwelt,
' Thy labour is not lost. Of late, my name
• Hath sounded with huge praise ; and more, I wean,
' Than my skill merits ; and renowned Lords
' Have strove, adventurous, for great sums, to gain
' What auncyentlyefor shylinges I did p-ynte.
' Oh marvellous and strance ! but welcome news
' I own : and such as soothes my parted spirit :
' Yet — but no more — the crisped breezes blow
' Of morning ; and bold chanticleer his note

SEVENTH DAY.

421

unusually late ere the company broke up for their respective
dormitories. The moon was two nights beyond her full ;
but her yet broad and beaming visage shed a sort of visionary
light along the corridore: so that Almansa, in retiring to
rest, had nearly persuaded herself that the Spirit ofJidiana*
had glided gently by the side of her, almost brushing her
with the edge of a garment~blanched in the fountains of
Paradise ! She startled ; but the voice of Lisardo, from
below, speedily convinced her that she lived in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, and not in
that of one thousand four hundred and eighty six I

' Already hath essayed : Farewell. Pursue
' Thy course begun.' So spake the ancient form
Of what was once endued with life and soul
Of Caxton.'

EIGHTH DAY.

VOL. ir.

ARGUMENT.

Of' Book-Bindings ancient and modern: with divers
singular anecdotes and sundry curious graphic embellish'
me?its connected tJierewith.

y il ' an I'.i

O not imagine (began Lisardo
the next morning, on resuming
his ' throne of state ') that I am
about to entertain you with any-
thing very novel or very won-
derful respecting the Art of Book-
Binding: — to which it was re-
I solved that this Eighth Day of
our Bibliographical Decameron should be devoted. On the
contrary, I can do little more than submit a few scattered
notices which have been collected almost by chance ; and
must trust chiefly to Schwarz some few particulars connected
with the more ancient branch of the art, craft, and mystery '
now about to be developed.

How am I to invoke— not the Muse,— but the friendly
Genii presiding over the bibliopegistical department ! It
is quite evident, my worthy friends, that the Ancients were
utter strangers to the Arias it was practised by a numerous
and nameless host Heroes of Bands and Blind^Tooling,

426

EIGHTH DAY.

on the discovery of the Art of Printing ; and who, as
that art became general, sprung into notice, celebrity, and
wealth. But we must be orderly in our historical resear-
ches ; and not leap at once upon a period when both the
Arts qf Binding and of Printing may be said to have
attained their infancy and maturity nearly at the same
moment. The Spirits of all that were great and glorious in
former times — ye nameless heroes of the needle, the shears,
and the stamping-iron, befriend me as I seek to relate the
progress and the triumph of your glorious Craft —

Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme !

>LoRENzo. The invocation savours well ; and I make no
doubt of « the gathering together' of the Spirits of those
nameless heroes whose deeds you are about to record. But
I interrupt.

LiSARDo. Well then ; we have first of all an unequivocal
attestation of the importance attached to the Art and Craft
of BooJc-Binding by the Ancients : since we learn from
Trotzius (mark the euphony of the name of that gentle
Scribe !) that they positively erected a Statue to the Memory
of that Man who bound books by means of Glue* However,

* a statue to the memory of that man who bound boohs by means of Glue.] ' On
a des preuve? convaincantes que longteras avant la naissance de notre Seigneur
les (^recs et les Romains relioient leurs livres avec de la cole. La ville d'Athene
ERiGEA uNE STATUE a I'auteur de cette invention.' Nouv. Traits de Diplom.
vol. iii. p. 60, note—' Trotz in prim. smb. orig. p. 608/ being quoted as the
authority. But Schwarz is ' most learned' upon the glue theme; quoting
Lucian, and proving from Olympiodorus, as referred to by Photius, that a cer-
tain Athenian, of the name of Phillatius, was the inventor of making books
by means of glue. Disp. II. De Omamentis Librorum Veterum, p. 47. Have
the workshops of Messrs. Staggemier, Kalthoeber, Bering, Walther, Lewis,
Clarke, &c. &c. busts of this said Phillatius Or, may we not ' move the previous
question'— do busts of the said Phillatius exist?— for to him must the homage
be paid of being considered as the Father of Book-Binding ! When once tlie

EIGHTH DAY.

427

it must first of all be understood that the Ancients originally
wrote upon scrolls placed upon their knees : they then
found out something like a desk : as you have abundance of
instances in fac-sinules from old MSS. and early-printed
Books.* It followed, that as they wrote upon scrolls, they

leaves were put safely together, the subsequent stages of covering, and orna-
menting, Sec. seem to have been matters of course. The canoe was made : it
floated of its own accord. However, Leo Allatius (and Leo Allatius ' is an
honourable man,' see vol. i. p. xxxii) says that the skins with which the ancients
used sometimes to make their books were put together by means of a thread or
string only, and not with glue.' Nor must we forget the ' lora rubra' of Catullus,
in his splendid description of ancient bibliomaniacal luxury : which words (from
the note of Vulpius, edit. Catidli, 1737, p. 77) should seem to mean thongs of
red leather, to tie up the rolls in a cylindrical form — ' majoris elegantiae causa.'
Hence the red-tape of the Lawyer! And Mabillon (De Re Diplom. p. 32) men-
tions two vellum-skin bulls of Pope John XIII. which were fastened together in
the middle ' membraneo vinculo ;' but these are somewhat solitary positions, and
must not be considered as detracting from the reputation of the mighty Philla-
TUTs. In Cicero's time (from his ivth letter in the ivth book of his Epistles
to Atticus) we have unequivocal attestation of the use of ghie. The orator
tells his friend to send him ' some two of his Librarians, who, amongst other
things, might conglutinate his books,' &c.

* abundance of eTemplifications in fac- similes from old MSS. and early-printed
Books.'] First, for the old MSS. Schwarz, p. 70, refers us properly enough to
the fac-similes from the celebrated Dioscorides as published by Lambeciusj
and of which it will be seen, in vol. i. p. xlv, that this work hath been discoursed
of somewhat pleasantly — as is presumed. This magnificently ornamented MS. is
now full thirteen hundred years old : and the author is represented, as above
alluded to by Lisardo, writing upon a scroll on his knees. The Greeks had a
comely proverb connected herewith — 0scov kv yo6va<n xsItui —meaning,
that the issue of events did not depend upon ourselves, but upon the deity —
' non esse nostras facultatis et arbitrii, praestare rei exitum; sed hunc ab eo
dependere, quod promdentice diuinee libro, in Dei quasi genibus sito, inscriptum sit.'
See Schwarz, p. 71, &c. who is copiously instructive hereupon ; and who dis-
porteth himself with a verse from old Homer, as applicable to this usage of genur
scriptim : ^ , , „ ,

which occurs twice in the first book, and once in the xvith book, of the Odyssey:
and once in the 17th and 20th books of the Iliad. It follows therefore, beyond all
doubt, that knees were (if I may so speak) the eariiest writing tables or writing
desks ! How soon the piece of furniture, composed of wood, or of any other

428

EIGHTH DAY.

would put away their writings by folding them up ; and the
earliest libraries, even including those of Cicero. Varro, and
Atticus, displayed to the eye of the virtuoso — -not a varied,
yet harmonised mass of colour — but a series of rolled vellum
or papyri ; and Schwarz, if my memory do not fail me, has
given us a comical but miserable representation of one of
the ancient Librarioli (or Library-keepers) in the act of
taking down a roll.*

The dawn of Book-binding is more especially visible in the
Pumex, the Cedrium, and Umbilicus of the Ancients. For
the benefit of the unlearned of this circle (with all due
submission be it spoken) let me explain these words. The
first means what we should now call a Pumice-stone :* with

substantial material, called a writing desk, was in use, I dare not take upon
me to detenniiie ; but I may be allowed quietly to ask if it can be satisfactorily
proved to exist before the viith century ?

* ime of the ancient Librarioli — in the act of taking down a roll.'} This ' miserable
representation' occurs in the iid plate attached to his iiid ' Disquisition upon
the Ornaments of Ancient Books.' Bat Isaac Vossius, in his edition of Catullus,
1691, 4to. p. 54, has given two yet more miserable representations of these book
rolls, from small wooden blocks. Beneath Schwarz's plate sits the figure of
Dioscorides (on a reduced scale from Lambecius) in the act of writing upon his
knees. Note : the learned Mabillon seems quite positive respecting the priority
of Vellum to the Papyrus : De Re Diplom. p. 30.

t what we should now call a Pumice-stone.^ Schwarz, as usual, (and as the work
of Schwarz is very rare in this country, I may be the more justified in such
frequent reference to it) is delightfully copious upon this ancient method of —
shall I say hot-peessing ? or rather, book-polishing — which latter, however,
in its result, is the same as the former. ' Before books were cut and trimmed
(says Schwarz, p, 81) they were polished by the pumice-stone. The pumex was
a porous stone (' lapis cauernosus') with which the ancients rubbed or polished
their bodies : thus Ovid, in his Art of Love, lib. i.

Ne tua mordaci pumice crura teras.
Pliny says the same thing in the 21st cap. of bis 36th book of Natural History;
and, on the authority of Catullus, applies it to the use of polishing books.
Catullus is a first-rate evidence. In his Epigram to Cornelius Nepos, he chaunteth
thus :

Quoi dono lepidum nouum libellura
Arida modo pumice expolitum?

EIGHTH DAY.

429

which the Scribes used to rub the surface of the material
upon which they wrote, in order to produce a pohsh : and
what is this, I ask, but your modern hot-pressing? — a
process, used by Book-binders as well as Printers. The
Cedrium was a species of oil to preserve the vellum &c. from
premature decay : and this was thought to have the same
effect upon moths, spiders, or other insidious and invisible

In that to Varus, he seems to lay open the whole arcana of ancient

BiBLIOMANIACISM :

chartse regiae, novi libri,
Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana
Directa plumbo, et pumice omnia aequata.

Now Isaac Vossius, to whom Vulpius (Edit Catulli. 1737, p. 77) refers us for a
complete analysis of the ' art, craft, and mystery' of ancient book-binding, doth
not, in his annotation upon this latter line, (p. 54) touch upon the ' pumice
omnia <equata.' No matter ; we will go on with a few more illustrations from
ancient classical authorities. Horace, according to Schwarz, betrays his pen-
chant towards a glossy membranaceous surface. In his xxth Epistle he thus
addresses his own book :

Vertumnum lanumque, liber, spectare videris ;

Scilicet vt prostes Sosiorum pumice mundus.
To which add the pithy distich of Martial :

Nondum murice cultus, asperoque
Morsu pumicis aridi expolitus.
But (continues Schwarz) they were especially ' fond of polishing the edges' with
this pumice-stone : for thus sings Ovid :

Nec fragili geminze poliantur puraicefrontes
Hirsutus sparsis vt videare comis.
Again ; Martial, in the 67th Epigram of his first hook :

Mutare Dominum non potest liber notus ;

Sed pumicatajfronte si qais est nondum.
Nor (continues our bibliomaniacal Schwarz) were they satisfied only with polishing
the surfaces and edges, but even the very vellum covers in which they were
rolled up — * vt scilicet manibus tractantibus essent benigniores.' He then refers
us to Bartholinus and to Casaubon's most erudite commentary upon Persius —
which thus observes—' pumicem ad manum habebant semper, qui membrana
aut charta utebantur; sed is pumex praecipue ad exacuendos calamos erat illis
Usui.' And thus much for evidence of what may fairly be called the prototype
of our modern art of hot-pressing.

430

EIGHTH DAY.

makers of inroads upon books or scrolls, as our Russia-
leather is supposed now to produce. At any rate, it was
something better than the muriatic-acid introduced by the
modern race of bookbinders* to whiten and purify the
surface of the leaves. Oh most foul and treacherous appli-
cation of chemical knowledge! A few short years glide
away — when we open our supposed spotless treasures, and
find them brittle, rotten, and shrinking even at the light of
day ! Let this hihliopegistical poison be henceforth dis-
carded from the store-house of every book-binder ; and let
the forfeiture of fifteen skins of genuine morocco leather be
the punishment inflicted upon the discovery of the applica-
tion of such a lawless ingredient ! We have the third cha-
racteristic, or prototype, of modern book-binding to notice —
namely, the Umbilicus * — or the Boss: either in the centre,

* something better than the muriatic-acid introduced by the modem race of book-
binders.'] This comparison is hardly fair ; as the muriatic-acid is applied to the
getting out of stains, &c. We shall, in due time and place, discourse somewhat
puugently upon the application of this sure poison in the rebinding of old books.
Meanwhile, in regard to tlie cedrium — which was an oil extracted from the cedar-
tree — Schwarz is minute and satisfactory respecting its ancient use in the
preservation of volumes. Salmuth is decisive in commendation of its power of
preservation ; while Vitruvius declares that ' books rubbed with the cedar oil may
bid defiance to the moth and decay.' Disp. I. Be Ornament. Libror. Vet. p. 39.

t the Umbilicus or Boss.] Perottus, in his Cornucopia, as illustrative of the
67th epigram of Martial's first book, thus observes : ' Umbo media pars clypei ;
ab hoc Umbilicus dicitur, quicquid in aliqua re est medium. Ligamentum
iiitestinorum, quod mediam fere planiciem ventris obtinet, umbilicum appellamus.
Item hinc umbilici ornamenta, quibus libri ornantur, et gemmaj ligantur.'
According to Porphyrio, this part of book decoration (which may be called the
embryo of book-binding), consisted of bone, or wood, or even gold. It was
in fact a cylindrical material, upon wliicli the sheets of vellum &c. were rolled
up: and sometimes the sheet had one of these rollers at each end. These
umbilici were also highly ornamented. Read the numerous apposite quotations
from the Latin poets in Schwarz, p. 72-3 ; and see fig. m. of his plate — attached
to his second Disquisition or Disputation. We have seen that Catullus especially
notices the ' Novi Umbilici.' But let the lover of curious and recondite biblio-
maniacal lore disport himself with Pancirollus's account of the various methods of

EIGHTH DAY.

431

or at the extremities of the vellum upon which the writing
was to be rolled : and upon this centre or extremity much
cunning and curious art was oftentimes lavished of old.
Thus you see, upwards of two thousand years ago, the
embryo seeds of modern Book-Bindings may be said to
have been sown — but you will be pleased to understand that
everything, just advanced, has reference exclusively to sheets
or rolls — whether of the papyrus, vellum, or cotton.

The next advance to binding, in the shape of a modern
book, was the Gatherings into Jours or twos :* the former

urriting among the ancients, in his Rer. Memorab. sive Deperdit. as referred to
by Raderus — and with Vossius's description of their method of Book-Binding;
in his edit. CatuUi. 1691, 4to. p. 51, as referred toby Vulpius. Upon the 'Novi
Umbihci' of Catullus, Vulpius observes that ' the GiVeks as well as the Romans
ornamented their books with this cylindrical roller, as is manifest from an
epigram upon the philosopher Heraclitus, quoted by Hesychius :

Tu^hg 'HpaxAeiTs Itt' oixfaXov s'lXss |S//3Aov.
Ne properans volve librum Heracliti usque ad umbilicum.

Edit. Catulli. 1727, p. 77.
* the Gatherings into fours or twos.^ Isaac Vossius is our first bibliographical
oracle of consultation upon the important point of ' gathering :' ' libet nioduni
comoingendorum apud veteres librorum, a neraine quod sciam satis hactenus
traditum, breviter hoc loco exponere. Primo itaque hoc monendum apud veteres
tarn GrjEcos quara Romanos, non tantum tempore Catulli, sed etiam din postea,
rarosomnino fuisse libros quadrates, qu ales proximis seculis maxime in usu fuere.
Tota supellectilis libraria et integra; veterum bibliothecse e solis ut plurimum cora-
ponebantur voluminibus convolutis, in formam columelte seu cylindri, quemad-
modum illos vocat Diogenes, cum Epicurum ccc cylindros conscripsisse dicit.'
He then goes on to tell irs that ' King Attalus, in his apprehension, was the first
who ordered books to be squared — in whose time a more ready process was dis-
covered of cleaning skins on both sides, whereas before they were only written
npon on one side*. . . ' However (continues he) although the custom of squaring
vellums commenced with Attalus, the previous method of a long roil continued
lill the days of Catullus and Cicero, and some time afterwards.' Edit. Catulli,
1691, 4to. p. 51.

It may be said the foregoing does not apply to gatherings. But I answer,
that the shaping of vellum-skins into a square, or parallelogram, was the first and
obvious step towards folding them into two or more portions. (Schwarz says
tliat whether the vellums were square or oblong, the ancient scribes used to write

432

EIGHTH DAY.

denoting a quarto shape, the latter a JoUo : it being seldom
or ever that the gatherings extended to eights, for an octavo.
The material being impregnated by the Cedrium, or moth-
destroying oil, polished by the Pumice-stone, and folded
into certain gatherings— ^^hat was the next natural step, as
it were, towards perfecting the Illustrious Art of which
we are now discoursing ? A Cover to these gatherings : a
security in the shape of hoao'd, vellum, velvet, or leather :
a roofing in of the mansion which had been thus cunningly
constructed Now then I bring you at once into what
may be called the History of Book-binding : and no small
gossip ensueth thereupon.

Ly SANDER. Will you treat of the materials just men-
tioned in a sort of separate, or seriatim manner, after the

upon them on their knees ; see p. 70, and p. 427, ante : — this by the bye.) We
next avail ourselves of the apposite authority of Montfaucon. ' Libros Graeci a
niultis retro, saeculis ad hodiernura pene modum cotnpingebant, distributa in
terniones vel quaterniones folia assuebant, peile vitulina sive alia plerumque
densiore totum operiebant, partem supernam et hifernam, qua latior liber est,
tabella lignea corio agglutinata muniebaut, quo firmius consisterent :' but we are
travelling into the whole mystery of book-binding, forgetting that we are upon
' gatlierings ' of ^oOTS, threes, and twos. A little onward, however, Montfaucon
comes to the point again : ' Quaterniones porro Librorum, TSTpolg et TSTpoL^iOV
nuncupant, quia videlicet quatuor foliis duplicatis aliumque in alio insertis con-
stant : qu£e octo folia sexdecimque paginas efficiunt. Terniones quoque non
numquam in Codicibiis GraBcis observantur. In Chronico quodam Bibliothecce
Regiae, Terniones et Quaterniones, TpKT<ra. et TSTpU(T<Ta. vocantur : quae
vocabula nusquam alias me vidisse memini.' See the Paleeogr. Greeca, p. 26.
Let us conclude with our old friend Scliwarz. ' A paginis et tabulis differebant
duemiones, temiones, quaterniones, quintemiones, siue duerni, temi, quaterni, et
cetera. Quae nomina potissiraum medio aevo usurpari cosperunt ; sed et post
inventam Typographiam saepius in libris, typorum subsidio exscriptis, annotata
leguntur'. . . ' in membranaceis chartaceisque codicibus, propter firmitatem
maiorera, plures chartae membranasue, et aliquando quidem binas, vel ternaB, vel
quaternae, aut amplius, prius sibi inuicera inserebantur, ac sic consertae, vbi opus
erat ad aperiendum, dissecabantur, et demum consuebantur, conipingebanturque.
Frequentius commemorantur quaterniones.' Disp. IIII. De Omamentis Libror.
Vet. p. 15.5.

EIGHTH DAY.

433

practice of the Judges in the Exchequer Chamber upon a
reserved point of law ?

LiSARDO. If you please: although I am not sure of
being quite chronologically correct in the relative antiquity
assigned to them.* At any rate, as trees were created before
cattle, let us give the oaken cover the precedence to that of
the sheep-skin. Most possible it is that, at first, the wooden
cover was perfectly smooth and unadorned : but as the
matter which it contained was frequently of great moment,
it would follow that the owners of these oak-bound volumes
would transfer to the exterior a testimony of the esteem in
which the interior was held: and hence the origin of art
upon the side-covers of books.

At first, in all probability, the ornaments thus introduced

* the antiquity of' one over the other.'] Perhaps the more consistent and classified
method would be to begin with the Ancient Diptychs, as being ratlier the
precursors of modern binding ; but this would cause us to travel into too vast and
variegated a field of investigation. Montfaucon's pithy note, in his Falczogr.Greca,
p. 34, is sufficiently satisfactory as to the ancient application of this term of art.
The Diptych consisted of two coats or covers, generally formed of ivory, within
which the work was placed. These covers were ornamented according to the
wealth, ingenuity, or fancy of the owners : and, as applicable to ecclesiastical
purposes, the contents exhibited the names of the Bishops, which were carefully
registered, or erased, in proportion to the purity or immorality of their lives. The
British Museum contains numerous specimens of these diptychs, and Mr. Douce
possesses a beautiful specimen of them. Gori has written an express work upon
the subject. As a prelude however to the more immediate subject of Book
Binding, as practised within the last thousand or twelve hundred years, let us
listen to a sort ofproheme upon the subject by the garrulous David Casley ; who,
occasionally, is smart in the midst of all his ponderous prosing. Thus discourseth
the worthy David. ' The very Covers of a great many MSS. are curiosities ;
there having been different ways of binding books in different ages. And some
have happened to have been bound with so good materials, as to have lasted a
great while : which may be proved by several books, which, upon examination,
appear to have been but once bound,' p. xv. He then refers to a volume,
described at p. 112 of his work, in its original binding of the date of 1467 : of
which presently. But I think it will be in my power to establish the existence
of an original binding of an earlier date.

434 EIGHTH DAY.

belonged to books which were the property of some rich
individual or of a Monastic Body; and as very many of
such books were of a rehgious cast of character, a represen-
tation of the Virgin, or of the Infant Saviour, or of the
Crucijixion, would be the earliest embellishment. Then,
again, as they were lavish in their testimonies of admiration
of the contents of a book, by causing the margins to be
adorned by beautiful paintings, so they would bestow some-
thing like a similar mark of admiration upon the exterior-
bindings : and thus precious-stones, or other costly mate-
rials, were applied to the outside covers. It is needles to
mention particular specimens of this mode of decoration,*

* needless to mention specimens of this mode of decoi'ation.'] The reader will be
pleased to consult the notes at pages 1 and liv of the first volume of this work,
for some curious intimations of ancient binding ; to which add the gossipping
note upon the same subject at page 156 of the Bibliomania. The binding of the
volume referred to at page liv of this work, consists of oaken boards, upon the
exterior of the first of which is a Large Brass Crucifix, formerly perhaps covered
or washed with silver. The book is a Latin Psalter with an interliiieary Saxon
version, in the ms. library at Stowe ; and is probably of the ixth century. The
crucifix measures, to the best of my recolleclion, about 7 or 8 inches in height.
The workmanship is clumsy. Vertue made a drawing of it, which is now in the
collection of the Society of Antiquaries. Mention also is made, in the place last
referred to, of a MS. of the Latin Gospels of the xth or xith century ; to be
again noticed (on account of its binding) in the course of this Eighth Day.
The present is therefore the fittest place to observe, that this MS. has also
oaken covers, the outside of one of which is inlaid with pieces of carved ivory :
which specimens of ivory sculpture I conceive to be of a later period — being pro-
bably inlaid by the piety of some subsequent owner. They are however very
curious, and deserve explicit notice. The first consists of our Saviour, with an
angel above him : the second, of the Virgin with Christ in her lap — the Virgin
is in half length : the third is a small whole length of Joseph with an angel above.
A gilt nimbus is round the head of each, but that which encircles the Virgin is
perfect; and the compartment in which she appears (about 5 inches high) is
twice the size of each of the others. The draperies throughout are good. It is
altogether a choice and precious specimen of ancient binding ; and the two in-
stances here mentioned are illustrative of that portion of Lisardo's discourse
which relates to ancient specimens of exterior book-decoration.

EIGHTH DAY.

435

as they are too well known to stand in need of minute
detail.

The ornaments attached to volumes with this hardy
coating were sometimes confined to their interiors. A
secret spring was touched, or an intricate lock was opened,
and forthwith flew open the cup-board-like doors of a recess,
exhibiting one of the ornaments just mentioned :* but,
generally, a crvicified Saviour — a comfort for the afflicted, a
portable subject of adoration to the enthusiastic ! I will not
pretend to say how many tears — whether of compunction or of
rapture — have been shed upon the old ornament of this kind
which our friend Philandee possesses . . . but I will gently
check myself in travelling somewhat too rapidly on towards
the close of the Fifteenth Century — by thus prematurely
mentioning these crucifix-cupboards in the * Craft and
Mystery of Book Binding.' To return, therefore. Let it
be here noticed that among the older specimens of Binding,
whether by means of Boards or of Vellum, there were
usually introduced two or more Jly-leaves from a work of a
still more ancient date. Montfaucon, if I recollect, mentions
several instances of this cruel method of spoliation or dis-

* exhibiting one of the ornaments just mentioned.'\ It is not often that there is
occasion to quote that slippery and fallacious writer ycleped S. Palmer, alias
G. Psalmanaazar ; but herein we may disport ourselves with six of his lines as
applicable to the subject in question. ' I shall here mention something (says
Palmer) concerning their [that is, the ancients] way of book-binding, an account
of which we find in Scaliger (Scaligeriana, p. 173, Hag. edit.) who tells us that
his grand-mother had a printed Psalter, the cover of which was two inches thick :
in the inside was a kind of cup-board, wherein was a small silver crucijix, and
behind it the name of Berenica, Codronia de la Scala.' General Hist, of
Printing, p. 96. The reader may consult another anecdote or two about Scaliger's
knowledge of early printed books, in vol. i. p, 351, 353. Of these ancient biblio-
pegistical specimens of cupboard-preserved crucifixes, I do not remember to have
seen more than one specimen ; and it is just probable, rather than possible, that
Lisardo is disporting himself in the gaieties of his own imagination— when he
talks of ' touching a secret spring 1 ' &c.

43G

EIGHTH DAY.

membering ;* and I would advise all shrewd and cautious
Collectors, in their purchases of old volumes, bound in
oaken boards, to examine either the fly-leaves, or thewithin-
pasted leaves, (by way of padding) in order to make disco-
veries of some precious fragment of a long panted-after
work: — some Caxton-printed Bevis of Hampton — some
relic of a Block-printed Donatus or CatJio Moralisatus — or,
in short, some hitherto equally inconceivable and unknown
work,-f- sufficiently exquisite to chase away the slumbers of

* this cruel method of spoliation or dismembering ;'\ It might be more correct
to state, that the fly-leaves themselves were, in many instances, the only method
of binding ancient ]\ISS. Montfaucon, in liis Bibl. Coisliniana, lias numerous
examples of this method of spoliation. Thus, in noticing a MS. of ' Commenta-
ries upon the Epistles of St. Paul,' of the xith century, he adds, 'to hind the
MS. there are two leaves of a much more ancient date, (of the ixth century)
from the Works of St. Chrysostom.' Id. p. 83. Several other instances may be
adduced from the same work. But the subject is more ' professedly ' discussed
in the following note.

t some hitherto equally inconceivable and unknown work.'] The reader is proba-
bly prepared for something mysterious, or something diverting, or something
instructive, from the above strange medley of names. Whatever be his biblio-
maniacal expectations, or ' throbs of hope,' he may fairly be promised a treat
of at least no ordinary occurrence. First, however, let me caution him — as
earnestly as Lisardo possibly can — to look ' cunningly and curiously' into the
coatings or paddings of old bindings ; and ' as cunningly and curiously ' to pay
especial attention to the written or printed ' fly leaves ' appertaining to the
same. These ' fly-leaves ' are oft-times of strange import ! . . containing, if not,
occasionally, a good deal of high treason [n. b. written in February, 1817!]
against the State, at least something approaching to petit-treason in the scale of
morals and decorum. However, as striking illustrations of the importance of
examining tlie inner coats of ancient bindings, let it be known that Mons. Van-
Praet discovered a fragment of an edition o{ Donatus, printed by SchoifFher in the
Mazarine-Bible type of 145.*) ' in the cover of an old book :' see vol. i. p. 331,

note * that Mr. Douce found a duplicate of that extraordinary fragment, or

rather Advertisement of Caxton,of which a fac-simile appears in the Typog. Antiq.
vol. i. p. cii— (and of which Lord Spencer, B. S. vol. iv. p. 349, possesses the
only other known copy — ) within the covers of an old Sarum Missal. It was
also among the ' luckiest hits ' of my bibliographical life to discover a Catho
moralisatus in the Speculum-type within the covers of a copy of Aretin's version
of Aristotle's Ethics, printed at Oxford in 1479 — and bound nearly at the same
time : see the BM. Spenceriana, vol. iv. pp. 354, 474. When I think that the

EIGHTH DAY.

437

the six following nights ! Happy Guiscardo : for thou art
among the number of those Old-Binding seeking biblioma-

stupendous public libi-ary at Munich, containing 300,000 volumes, (chiefly the
picked spoils of 70 dilapidated monasteries . . . with 100,000 volumes of dupli-
cates!) possesses, in particular, a set of old wainscot cases of books clad in their
OKiGiNAi. MONASTIC VESTMENTS, it docs not secni zvery idle conjecture to
imagine that some fragments of even Sweynheym and Pannartz' Donatus (see
vol. i. p. 353) may be found within the covertures aforesaid ! Search, keenly
and unremittingly, ye bibliomaniacal Virtuosi — who have access to such heart-
refreshing treasures!

' But in the mean while,' — exclaims the impatient lover of old romances —
' what means Lisardo by a fragment of some ' Caxton-printed Bevis of Hamp-
ton ?' I will gently tell him what he means. It was (if my memory be not
treacherous) somewhere in the autumn of 1813, when, spending some pleasaunt
days with my ' excellent and approved good' bibliomaniacal friend ycleped
George Vander Neunburg, (let me add. Esquire) I received ' the glorious in-
telligence' from Earl Spencer of his Lordship's having acquired, from Mr.
Cochrane, a quarto volume containing the tbllowing Caxtonian Gems : Alain
Chartier, Catho Parvus, and a Book for Travellers.' ' But'— again exclaims the
impatient lover of old Komances — ' what has this to do with a Caxton-printed
Bevis of Hampton?' Again, I reply, ' I will gently tell him' what it has to do
with it. Lord Spencer wrote as follows — after a particular description of each of
the three Caxton Sequences just mentioned : ' I forgot to say that, in this said
volume, there is a very curious ms. note apparently of a very old date. It
appears to be a list of books ; and if it means a list of Books printed by Caxton,
it would be interesting indeed to a typographical antiquary. It is on the recto
of the blank leaf [mark, genlle reader, we are on the subject of fly-leaves !]
preceding the Cato, and I have copied it as well as I can make it out on the
enclosed piece of paper. You will immediately perceive how much might be
inferred from this, provided it be genuine and contemporary ; of which I cannot
help thinking there is every appearance.' We approach the catastrophe ; for
hereafter foUoweth ' the list' itself from the autography of the Noble Lord.

1 lTnp[ri]mis chancer off fame w* cato y engl

yshe 2ofo.

2 The hystory off Arctur

2ofo.

3 Esopus in hysfablys

. 2ofo.

4 The idi sonnys of Aymon

2ofo.

5 A boke off fortune

3ofo.

6 A boke of ye bestis moratyzyd

. 2ofo.

7 The statuts of the plar']liament

. 2o/o.

8 Bevys off hampton

2o>

9 gestys romanorii

20 fo.

On the back of the leaf, but in a later hand, we read :

' madam j pray you when you in thi$ booke loke'

438

EIGHTH DAY.

niacs, vho, if they chance not to stumble upon any of the
forementioned delectable fragments, have yet perhaps the
felicity to pounce upon a — zmrm!—not of the stupendous
dimensions of that of Spindlestone Heughs, but of pearl-like

Now, mark well— ye admirers of Chief Baron Gilbert's unrivalled work upon
* The Law of Evidence.' The liand-writing is, to all appearances, (I might say
positively) of the time of Caxton : the 4 and 7 of the numerals are written in
the ancient well-known method of expressing those numbers : and I have myself
not a shadow of a doubt of the entry's having been made towards the latter part
of the fifteenth century ! What therefore is the conclusion? And who, among
the sons of Britain, or ' among the Sons of Men ' ever printed ' the iiii sonnes of
Aymon, or ' Bevys offhampton,' or ' gestvs romanoru, 'thus designated, and about
the year of our Lord 1480-90, (for the hand-wrhing ' smacks '—« redolet '—of
that period!) but William Caxton? Again: on examining the Typographical
Antiquities of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 117, edit. 1810, &c. it will be seen
that the supposition of Caxton's having printed the 'Four Sons of Aymon' is
much strengthened, both by the language of the prologue to the version (as
given in Copland's edition) ' savouring strongly ' as Herbert has well remarked,
' of the style and manner of expression used by Caxton, ' and by contem-
poraneous evidence : for, says this prologue, ' lohn Erie of Oxforde my goode
synguler and especial lorde . . . late sente to me a booke in Frenche conteynyng
thactes and faytes of warre done and made agaynst the great Emperour and kyng
of Fraunce Charlemayne by the iiii. sonnes of Aymon . , . whyche booke accor-
dynge to hys request I haue endeuorde me to accomplyshe and to reduce it into
our englyshe.'. . . Did Wynkyn De Worde ever disport himself in this ' sort of
phraseology?' He might have so printed, in his supposed edition of 1504,
because he was then only the copyist of Caxton : but in his own prologues I
challenge the most scrutinizing investigator to produce anything which ' savour-
eth of the like style and manner of expression.' Further : when did this John,
Earl of Oxford live? If we consult Collinses Historical Collections of the
Noble Families of Cavendish, Vere, &c, 1752, folio, p. 248, &c. we shall find that
he could have been no other than the John whose father was attainted and
beheaded in the first year of the reign of Edward IV. 1461 : he himself being
at that time about 23 years of age. As a Lancastrian, he was obnoxious to

Edward, and travelled much abroad during the earlier years of Edward's reign

chiefly in the suite of Margaret, the wife of Henry VI. What therefore if, during
Caxton's own residence abroad, he met with this John Earl of Oxford ? who, in
fact, (from the Typog. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 117) should seem to have prevailed upon
him to translate, from the French into English, ' the life of one of his prede-
cessors named Robert Earl of Oxford !' It is true that John lived till the
year 1513 : having been ' full fifty years' Earl of Oxford— but he was then
greatly advanced in age, and it is not likely that, till within 9 years only of his
death, he should have expressed a wish for the version of the ' Four Sons of

EIGHTH DAY.

439

transparency of colour, obliquity of movement, and of an

insatiable spirit of devoration —

Never ending, still beginning,
Fighting still, and still destroying !

Aymon.' Let me conclude thus : * Gentlemen of the Jury. You will find
a verdict for Mr. William Caxton as being the first English Printer
of the Four Sons of Aymon.' Equally rash and unsuccessful therefore will be
that man who shall venture to move the Court for — 'a new trial ' upon a sup-
posed ' misdirection of the Judge.' Grant me, however, says my friend Mr.
Heber (who revels in his fine copy of Copland's edition of these ' four Sons')
that Wynkyn was at least the original Printer of the ' Four leaves of the True
Lovei'. (See the Typog. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 382:) I reply, ' that may be; but the

* four leaves of the True Love ' are not the ' four Sons of Aymon ' who ' warre
did and made agaynst the great Emperour and kyng of Fraunce Charlemayne'! !!

It is further worth obserwng, that the work just mentioned, with the History of
Bests, the Eevis of Hampton, and the Gesta Romanorum, are placed immediately
beneath those of which it is well known that Caxton was the undoubted printer :
and of which other Jive works, with the exception of the JEsop, (' Man never is,
but always to be blest') Lord Spencer is the fortunate possessor of copies. Upon
the whole, let us felicitate his Lordship upon possesshig a fly leaf which may
lead to such interesting results ; and which, it is presumed, hath already convinced
the reader of the necessity of examining every such relic in the ' art and mystery'
of ancient book-binding.

But I have not yet exhausted the subject of ' fly-leaf fragments,' whether,
written or printed. Know therefore, curious reader, that in the black letter
archive-room of Corpus College, Oxford, there is a copy of Wynkyn De Worde's
Contemplation of Sinners, printed in 1499, 4to. in old dark calf binding — contain-
ing, at the beginning and end, a fly-leaf of Oltl pOCtrj, from the press of the
same Wynkyn, and of probably a nearly coeval date. I do not pretend to be

* doctissimus,' and of course not ' longe doctissimus,' in our old vernacular poetry ;
but I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be a fragment of Merlin's Prophecy :
see the Typog. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 158. The second of these fly-leaves is here only
given : the first being much too ' unseemly' for grave and decorous readers to
peruse :

That Castell ye shall make mery
Vpon the playne of Salysbury
And there ye shall that founde
Moche and wyde and large on grounde
Do it nowe I vou bade.
That it be trusty and well made.
And ye shall haue to youre hyer
As nmche as ye wyll desyre.

VOL. II. EC

440

EIGHTH DAY.

Philemon. You are surely speaking of some two-legged
Book- Worm — some bibliomaniacal Alexander — when you
quote this noble passage of Dryden ?

For the loye that god is in

Fyll the cuppe and latte vs begyime.

Alle the werkemen weiite tho
Fyue thousande and well mo
They hewe wode and caniyd stone
And layde the founderaente anone
Sonirae rebatyd and sorame bare
And sunime beganne theyr werke to rere
The werkemen were lyght and sly
The werke beganne to ryse sone on hy
The first daye wyth outen choute
The werke arose kne hye aboute
Whan it was come to the nyght
To theyr reste they wente ryght
And came ageyne on the morowe
And founde thynge of myche sorowe.
All the fundemente in that stounde
Lay spredde a brode on the grounde
And al to tore lyme and stone
Grete wonder they thought anone
No better rede coude they than
But a newe werke they beganne
And spedde well for sothe to sey
As they dyd the fyrste daye
Whan the daye was gone

To reste they wente euerychone *.
And came ageyne in the morowe
And founde all theyr werke done to sorowe.
And all spredde here and there.
And so it faryd halfe a yere
All that they wrought on the daye
On the morowe a brode sprcd it laye
Whan the Kynge harde telle of thys
Grete wonder he hadde I wys.
And dydde aspye of yonge and elde
What it myght be that his werke felde
' And why his werke myght not stonde
But there was none in all his londe
Hye ne lowe lewde ne clerke
That coude tell what fellyd his werke

EIGHTH DAY.

411

LiSARDo. I will not be scandalous ; but shall leave you to
draw your own conclusions. Yet, if you wish your choicest

As Kynge Forteger satte in his lialle
And many a man satte hym wyth alle
Syth the tyme that they were borne
Suche a wonder sawe they neuer beforne
As they hadde of that werke foncje
That euery uyght was fellyd to groude
The Kynge swore he wolde not spare.

One further word, and we say ' good bye' to fly-leaves — ' whether written or
printed.' My worthy and very enterprising bibliomaniacal friend, Mr. Philip
Bliss, (whose edition of Wood's Athen<z Oxonienses maketh ' fat and warm' the
hearts of all ' true sons ' of that Alraa Mater) hath of late evinced a singular pro-
pensity in the collecting of ancient fly-leaves — ornamental, plain, written, or
printed — which contain any matter of interest; and, among them, he possesseth
a fragment of old poetry, printed by Wynkyn De Worde, of which no account
hath been given by bibliographers, and of which the colophon, with nearly the
whole of the fragment, is as follows :

^ Thus endeth y lyfe of saynt Gregory es mo'
[ther] imprynted in Flete strete at y sygne of y'

de Wordc In the yere of

d M . CCCCC . and . xv .

' The foolish binder who took this leaf out (says Mr. Bliss) tore it in such a
manner, that the ends of some nine, and the beginnings of the same number of
lines, are quite lost. However, here you shall have a very sufficient specimen :
Incipit

' That sufFred a soule to lye in that state
For he is fals and eke vnkynde
That leueth the soule in dampnacyon

And with his owne good may it

And brynge it to saluacyon
For crystes sake preche this abou , .
And tell the people of this peryll
For they that be in faute without
There is no remedy they shall to ... .
Without ende there dwell shall th . . . .
In fyre and brymstone for that d . , . .
Full dere they shall that ....
And haue that rewarde for theyr ....
Fare well now and haue my blessynge
Take this in mynde and be of good chere
Tyme is come of our partynge

442

EIGHTH DAV^.

treasures in the book-way to be successfully preserved
against the interminable ravages of the worm, beware of
Hog-skin !

Belinda. Most strange ! — why of Hog-skin?

LiSAKDO. I should have said of Hog-skin binding: but
your wonder betrayed itself too quickly. I fear our friend
PosTHUMUS Avill repent of his attachment to this species of
book-coverture ; and that, in some half-score years, we shall
witness that glorious fabric of his Large Paper Dutch
Quarto Classics, built up by the tools of Charles Lewis (in
hog-skin coating) perishing from the ravages of this destruc-

I maye no lenger abyde here
The clowdes opened on euery syde
Aungelles frome heuen downe where sene
With myrthe and melody she vp strede
All about the sterres in the f3'rraan]ent

To the biysse of heuen withou

Where myrthe and loye without ende is
Suche messengers our lorde her sent
His sorowe and care for to lys . . .
Whan I had this syght sene
It was well drawen in to the nyght
I was ryght glad and also fayne
That god had shewed me that syght
To bed J wente and toke my reste
As goddes wyll was J sholde do
I there bethought me what was the best
Other soules to brynge from wo
... 11 the clerk es of that cyte

this trentall to be in mynde

in eche degree

(Eight lines, half gone, omitted.')
This trentall is wrytten in thre langages

frenshe and euglysshe eke

who so wyll it se

fyde he may it seke

. . brynge vs to the biysse that euer shall be.
Amen.

' Thus endeth,' &c. before given.

EIGHTH DAY.

443

tive worm.* To return, however, from this blood-curdling
digression : — for what are we, ourselves, when alive, but
walking books, to be probed and perforated by designing
knaves, and, when dead, food for worms ' of a larger growth V

* this destructive worm.'] Let not the gravity of the reader be discomposed
when I tell him that it is my intention to discourse pretty largely upon the
' BooK-woEM not a bipedical, but a polypedical, animal. And first, for ' the
laidley worm of Spiiidleston Heughs.' Heaven forfend that such a worm should
be introduced into our printed leaves, or book-covertures ! — for this woi'm was
nothing less tlian of the dimensions of a certain ' Princess of the North !' — for an
account of whom the impatient reader will not fail to consult Evans's Old Ballads,
vol. iv. p. 241 : edit. 1810.

We come more directly to the worm in question. This little bibliomaniacal
insect, creature, or animal — call it how you will — is thus pleasantly ' narrated
upon ' by Hooke in his ' Micrographia : or Some Physiological Descriptions of
Minute Bodies, made by magnifying Glasses, ^c. 1667, folio — a work just now of
rarity and price. ' It is a small wliite silver- shining woi-m, or moth,(sa.ys Hooke)
which I found much conversant among Books and Papers, and is supposed to
be that which corrodes and eats holes through the leaves and covers. It appears,
to the naked eye, a small glistering pearl-coloured moth, which, upon the remov-
ing of books and papers, in the Summer, is often observed very nimbly to scud,
and pack away to some lurking cranney, where it may the better protect itself
from any appearing dangers. Its head appears big and blunt, and its body tapers
from it towards the tail, smaller and smaller, being shaped almost like a carret.'
A little onward, he continues thus : ' It has a conical body, divided into fourteen
several partitions, being the appearance of so many several shels, or shields that
cover the whole body, every one of these shells is again covered or tiled over
with a multitude of thin transparent scales, which from the multiplicity of their
reflecting surfaces, make the whole animal appear of a perfect pearl-colour.' It
must be confessed that there is something very formidable, and almost ' blood-
curdling,' (as Lisardo above expresses it) in this description of the Book-worm.
Hooke gives a representation of it, prodigiously magnified, in what he calls his
XXXIII. Scheme, or Plate. Fig. 3, and continues thus— still increasing our horrors
of this tremendous little animal ! ' The small blunt head of this insect was
furnished on either side of it with a cluster of eyes, each of which seemed to ^
contain but a very few, in comparison with what I had observed the clusters of
other insects to abound with; each of these clusters were beset with a row of
small brisles, much like the cilia or hairs on the eye-lids, and, perhaps, they
served for the same purpose. It had two long horns before, which were straight,
and tapering towards the top, curiously ringed or knobbed, and brisled much
like the marsh weed, called horse-tail, or cat's-tail ; having, at each knot, a
fringed girdle, as I may so call it, of smaller hairs, and several bigger and larger

44i

EIGHTH DAY.

Before we speak of the progress of binding in wood
with leather covers, we may notice the co-existing species of

brisks, here and there dispersed among tliem : besides these, it had two shorter
]iorns, or feelers, which were knotted and fringed, just as the former, but wanted
brisles, and were blunt at the ends ; the hinder part of the creature was ter-
minated with three tails, in every particular resembling the two longer horns
that grew out of the head. The leggs of it were scaled and haired much like the
rest, but are not expressed in this figure, the moth being intangled all in glew,
and so the legs of this appeared, not through the glass, which looted perpendi-
cularly upon tlie back.' Hooke thus speaks of its partiality for bibliomaniacal
food, and sums up with a pathetic piece of moralisation. ' This animal probably
feeds upon the Paper and Covers of Books, and perforates in them several
round holes, finding perhaps, a convenient nourishment in those husks of hemp
and flax, which have passed through so many scourings, washings, dressings,
and dryings, as the parts of old paper must necessarily have suffered ; the
digestive faculty, it seems, of these little creatures being able yet further to work
upon those stubborn parts, and reduce them into another form.*

' And indeed, when I consider what a heap of saw-dust or chips this little
creature (which is one of the teeth of Time) conveys into its intrals, I cannot
chuse but remember and admire the excellent contrivance of Nature, in placing
in animals such a fire, as is continually nourished and supplyd by the materials
conveyed into tlie stomach, and fomented by the bell ows of the lungs ; and in
so contriving the most admirable fabrick of animals, as to make the very spending
and wasting of that fire, to be instrumental to the procuring and collecting more
materials to augment and cherish itself, which indeed seems to be the principal
end of all the contrivance observable in bruit animals.' p. 208-10.

After such a plentiful extract we must be sparing in our , book-learning
respecting this terrific insect : of whose precise nature, or character, it would
be difficult, as is intimated in Dr. Rees's Cyclopedia, (vol. v. E. 2.) to as-
certain what is meant by our old writers. Hooke (whose specimen is in-
correct; as it is of the larva of the tinus or tinea, and not the lepisma, that
he should have discoursed) calls it both a worm and a Jiy : but whether
crawling, or flying, let us beware of the species called eruditus—' which directs
its attacks to those parts which are sewed together or glued down.' Ibid. This
is really storming a book in its very entrenchments ! The last quoted authority
goes on thus : ' Another mischievous creature is the larva of a small moth of the
tinea kind, which is insinuated in the egg-state into the paper, and, hatching, the
larva gnaws cylindrical cavities through the leaves, and spins a web, in which it
lies secure, till, after passing through the the pupa state, it becomes a moth.' It
is right to know every species of these Book-Enemies ' The larvte of several
species of the Dermestes, in like manner, prey upon books, attacking the leather
COVERS as well as the PAPER.' Ibid. Insatiable cormorant! Hear, too, what a
recent and very amusing work says upon the same subject. ' How dear are
their books, their cabinets of the various productions of nature, and their collec-

EIGHTH DAY

445

bindins: in vellum or velvet : although I am not sure whe-
ther the latter did not precede the former. Of Binding in

tions of prints and other works of art and science, to the learned, the scientific,
and the Virtuosi ! Even these precious treasures have their secret enemies. The
larva of crambus piuguinalis, whose ravages in another quarter I have noticed
before, will establish itself on the binding op a book, and spinning a robe,
which it covers with its own excrement, will do it no little injury. A mite
(^Acarus eruditus, Schrank) eats the paste that fastens the paper over the edges
of the binding, and so loosens it. I have also often observed the caterpillar of
another little moth, of which I have not ascertained the species, that takes its
station on damp old books, between the leaves ; and there commits great
ravages; and many a black-letter rarity, ['Horresco referens?' the author should
have added] which in these days of Bibliemania would have been valued at its
weight in gold, has been snatched by these destroyers from the hands of book
COLLECTORS.' Kirhy's Introduction to Entomology ; vol. i. p. 238, 1816, 8vo.

Such is the eloquent information afforded us by a few writers upon the sub-
ject. There is no need, as before intimated, to push our researches into foreign
authors. But does the reader gather, from all this ' eloquent information,' a
distinct notion of the me and action of the book worm ? Possibly not. I will
tell him therefore, that, being extremely anxious to collect all the evidence that
I was able from living witnesses, I first betook me to Messrs. Payne and Foss.
Mr. Payne said he thought he had seen two : one was like a small maggot, the
other had something of the head and horns of a bug. Singular discrepancy !
Mr. John Payne, his nephew, not even at home or abroad, had ever seen one.
From Pail-Mall it was natural to proceed to the British Museum : although Mr.
Evans assured me he could trust to his memory for having seen at least three.
At the Museum, Mr. Ellis ' deposed' that he had never found but one, which was
alive ; and in a volume of the Spectator. Mr. Baber had seen only the slough
of one ! Thus the book-worm appeared to be rather a scarce copy. (In the West
Indies, however, I learn they are nearly"as common as the sugar-cane.) My
friends Mr. Heber and Mr. Lang assured me they had seen, caught, and
detected one — in the sale-room of Mr. King — in the very act of book-murder :
the former exclaiming to the latter, at the time of detection, ' see here our
MORTAL ENEMY ! ' This exclamation, founded upon truth, could not fail to have
its due effect upon all the by-standers— who, it is reported, immediately set to
work to secure other Uke offenders : but in vain, Mr. Bliss (with that promp-
titude which forms so interesting a feature in his character) thus writes me word
respecting this terrific animal. ' If you are serious about book-worms, I have
seen them both alive and dead ; and fine fat fellows they are, when they get to
a good bldiCh-'lttttl feast served on stout paper ! There is at this moment in the
Bodleian library a book actually devoured : not having two lines together to
be decyphered!' Frightful intelligence!

Hearing that Messrs. Ogle and Co. had a live book-worm^ I was curious to

446

EIGHTH DAY.

Velvet, I take it we have no specimens before the Fourteenth
Century ; when, to the best of my recollection, that species

ascertain the fact ; and writing to them, received, not only a most ' gracious answer'
in return, but the animal itself : secured within the confines of a round deal box.
As I consider the note of Messrs. Ogle and Co. highly important in an entomo-
logical point of view, I am sure those worthy blbliopolists will not object to its
insertion in the present place : ' Messrs. Ogle and Co. beg to inform Mr. D . . .
that the worms in the box (one of which is dead) were taken by them
alive and hearty, from books in which they had made considerable depre-
dations, and which were imported by them from Holland ; the largest has
grown somewhat, since it was put into the box about 12 months ago, and ap-
peared to eat partially of the paper in it, which has been more than once changed.
' They have met with four or six only, in the course of their experience ; and
suppose, that in common circumstances, the worm becomes a small fly, as they
have sometimes seen small winged insects in wormed books, which appeared to
have perished from being unable to make their escape. This however is mere
conjecture. As O. and Co. have no wish to keep these worms, Mr. D. may
destroy, or make what other use of them he pleases, after inspecting them.'

I regret to add, that although these insects were secured in black-letter scraps,
(apparently printed by Tom Godfray) the live one had escaped during his journey
to me ; but the dead one, slightly curled up, was precisely similar to a small fat
filbert-maggot, with a mahogany-coloured head, and when stretched out might
possibly extend to the enormous dimensions of one quarter of an inch .' The late
Mr. Elmsley, the bookseller, detected one— not only in the shape of a fly, but in
the act of flying ; upon which he expressed himself to Lord Spencer (from whom
T received the anecdote) in a manner possibly more vehement and impressive
even than that in which my friend Mr. Heber indulged ! The little rogue appeared
to Mr. Elmsley to have put on his wings for the sake of some desperate, predatory
excursion-r-probably to deposit its larva within the morocco-joints of a Roger
Payne-bound Clarke's Ca;sar, Chaet. Max! This, it must be confessed, was
' flying at noble game.' The seat of the mischief seems to lie in the binding.
' Mr. Prediger, among other instructions to German book-binders, printed at
Leipsic in 1741, advises their making paste of starch instead of flour : he wishes
them to powder slightly the boohs, the covers, and even tlje shelves on which they
stand, with a mixture of powdered alum and fine pepper ; and is also of opinion,
that in the months of March, July, and September, books should be rubbed with
a piece of woollen cloth, steeped in powdered alum.' Melange d'Hist. Nat. vol. v.
p. 296 ; quoted in Dr. Rces's Cyclopedia. Sir John Tliorold (one of our first
rate bibliomaniacs during the time of the Pinelii sale) used to be very particular
(so Mr. Payne informs me) in his directions to the binder respecting a due poi-
tion of alum in the paste ; and I am credibly informed by a gentleman, who, a
few years ago had some books bound by two different binders at Vienna, that
one set engendered the book-worm, and the other did not. Thus Mr. Prediger

EIGHTH DAY.

447

of book-coverture is expressly noticed by Ch aucer. It has
continued however to the present day ;* and upon an old
Chronicle, or Romance, or any solid body of information —
and especially upon devotional volumes — there are few covers
which confer greater dignity than Velvet: but let this
velvet be well guarded by a morocco exterior, both for the
sake of security as well as of ornament. However, where

discourses rationally in his ' Instructions to German book-bnnders.' There is no
doubt, I apprehend, that Hog-skin binding is more favourable to the breed of the
book-worm, than any other species ; and this discovery is exclusively due to the
EusT ATHius of the day ! Mr. Douce has also a melancholy proof of the worm-
nutritive powers of hog-skin, in an old MS. lately bound by Hering iu that
species of coverture.

It is curious to notice the sort of small-shot peppering^ in ancient volumes
more particularly, in consequence of the ravages of the ui.sect here described.
From beginning to end, through boards and through leathex, amidst margin and
printed text, now breakfasting upon a syllogism of Duns Scoitus, then dining upon
a devotional sentiment of Lactantius, and afterwards supping upon a bit of Vincent
de Beauvais' legends, this diminutive but desperate pioneer urges his ' forceful
way!' Nothing comes amiss to these creatures; their digestive powers being
wonderful. They will nibble at Hebrew, eat largely of Greek, riot upon Latin,
and satiate themselves with Italian ! But let me ask, by way of conclusion, does
not the bipedical worm, before alluded to, in that vast volumie called The World,
make still greater depredations, and evince still more tremendous powers of
digestion ? t The quEere need not be elaborately answered : Sio, referring the reader
to Beza's pretty poem upon the book worm who had ' played old gooseberry'
with his Catullus, {Bez(B Poem. edit. 1599, 12mo./oZ. 78, rev.) and calling to mind
Pope's verses to Mr. John Moore, the great worm doctor of his time, let us unite
ill the propriety of applying the beginning of one of Martial's lines (Epig. 91,
lib. iv.) to the present disquisition, ' Ohe jam satis est!'

* Velvet Binding— has continued to the present day.'] First of its ancient
use. I apprehend Lisardo bore in mind the lines in the prologue of Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales: 'A twenty bokes, clothed in black and red — 'meaning,
I presume, bound either in black or in red velvet: for neither calf, vellum,
nor forrell, could be said to be black or red. Indeed I apprehend, from
an expression of Richard of Bury, that ' velvet and silk' were the usual book
covertures of the fourteenth century. In the viiith ch. of his Philobiblon (p. 30,

t Though I have always been stupid, or old-fashioned enough to be no admirer
of Bonaparte's sayings or doings, yet, as bearing upon the present point, I may be
permitted to observe that he was accustomed to compare the different journalists
he kept in pay, to so many worms, and himself to the le.aves upon which they
battened !

448

EIGHTH DAY.

the original binding be stamped-leaiher — sound, curious,
and, above all, with the name of the hinder thereupon — upon
NO ACCOUNT part with such ancient and original binding,

edit. 1599) he thus notices the altered condition of books from their former
splendor : ' qui [libri] olim purpura vestiebantur et bysso, nunc in cinere et cilicio,
recubantes,'&c. It seems, however, that the works of Chaucer, Lydgate, and Hawes,
were usually bound in leather in the time of Robert Copland : for thus speaks
the latter, in the poetical prefix to his edition of Chaucer's Assemble of Foules,
1530, folio :

Chaucer is deed the which this paraphlete wrate
So ben his heyres in all such besynesse
And gone is also the famous clerke Lydgate
And so is yonge Hawes, god theyr soules adresse
Many were the volumes that they made more and lesse
Theyr bokes ye lay vp tyll that the lether moules.

&c. &c. &c. Typog. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 279.

However, we have an earlier attestation, in the language of Sebastian Brandt (as
translanslated by Barclay) of the prevalence of ' damask, satin, and velvet'
bindings. Brandt is speaking of a book collector, who has his treasures

in great reuerence
And hououre sauynge them from fylth and ordure
By often brusshynge, and moch dy]3'gence
Full goodly bounde in pleasaunt couerture
Of domas, satyn, or els of velvet pure.

The Same ; vol. ii, p. 434.
It should seem, from an ancient inventory of books belonging to the present
pul)lic library at Brussels, (formerly ' La Bibliotheque de Bourgogne') that they
bound volumes of the same work in different bindings— as in vellum and velvet.
A Bible is described as bound in this manner by La Sema Santaiider : the first
being in vellum, and the second in velvet binding : ' Ung autre liure couuert de
velour damasie tout us6 garuy de deux cloux dorez intitule c'est le second volume
de la Bible,' &c. Memoir e Historique sur la Bibliotheque de Bourgogne, p. 48. Diana
of Poictiers (of whom anon) was very fond of velvet bindings ; and when applied
to ancient MSS. they have a very appropriate effect. The Dean and Chapter of
York Minster have recently had several of their choicer MSS. put into purple,
damson-colour, or ' black and red' velvet attires, by 'the cunning skill 'of Mr. C.
Lewis, The lettering upon the back of the velvet is always necessarily defec-
tive. The Julio Clovtos of Mr. Grenville and Mr. Towneley (see vol. i. p. clxxxviii)
have velvet bindings, secured by morocco-covered cases ; and so have the first
Psalters of 1457 in the collections of his Majesty and Earl Spencer : but when
the collector pounces upon a Missal, or other beauteous ms. tome, in its ancient ,
leather stamped covers — like unto that of Mr. H. Broadley, described in vol. i.
p. clxxii — let him not, ' like unto' the bibliopolists noticed at p. clxx of the same

EIGHTH DAY.

even if you had the choice of all the velvet which graced
the late Waterloo Museum in Piccadilly !

Lorenzo. I will be careful to attend to this precept.
But now for your Vellum binding — as you know my par-
tiality for a judicious distribution of this ' milk-white ' tint.

LiSARDO. I make no doubt of Vellum being as old as
the beginning of the xvth century ;* or possibly even of a

volume, doff tlie calf for the velvet! 'Tis a mixture of treason and sacrilege
so to do.

As to Binding in SilR, wliich material we may denominate to be the younger
sister of Velvet, I confess there is something that ' goes against the grain' in
making up one's mind towards adopting that method of book-coverture —
notwithstanding its frequent appearance in the library of Mathias Corvinus :
of whom presently. Possible it is, however, that the anecdote of Theodore de
Gaza and Pope Sixtus IV. may have operated in causing the aforesaid ' grain'
to be discomposed. Thus writeth the author of the Histoires 9es Papes ; vol. iv.
p. 259, 1732, 4to. ' Theodore, who had translated Aristotle's treatise upon the
nature of Animals, presented Sixtus with a copy of it, handsomely bound and
gilt, and " covered with silk." The Pope asked him ' how much all these orna-
ments had cost?' and understanding that they amounted to 40 ducats, he merely
reimbursed the translator, without an additional single farthing.' P. Valerianus
says that ' Theodore threw the pitiful present into the Tiber, and suffered himself
to die of hunger in consequence!' What a tragical issue — and what a warning
against clothing presentation copies in silk ! Of what is technically called silk-
insides, (would that Theodore's binder had been conversant in that branch of
his business — the fate of his employer had been averted!) we shall ' discourse
somewhat' in a future page of this Eighth Day.

* Vellum being as old as the beginning of the xvth century. 1 We will begin with
our old friend David Casley, Deputy Librarian to King George llnd. ' Though
Parchment was not used by the ancients for covering of their Books, yet no
binding is comparable to it for lasting. Each skin of the Vellum of Books also
is generally marked for direction of the Binder ; and that, oftentimes, both on
the first and last leaf. And those marks do now, by accident, often serve to dis-
cover if a book be imperfect, and how much is wanting ; and that sometimes,
when there are no other means of knowing.' Pref. p. xv. The worthy author
(as quoted at page 433 ante) has referred to a specimen of ancient binding, in
the body of his work, which bears the following inscription : (it is a MS. of the
Epistles of St. Jerom.) ' Liber ligatus erat Oxonii, in Catstrete, ad instantiam
Reuerendi Domini Thome Wybarun, in sacra theologia Bacalarii Monachi
RofFensis, Anno Domini 1467.' MSS. Reg. 6. D. II. This is the oldest expressed
date upon a binding with which I happen to be acquainted ; but (miserabile
dictu I) this relic has been long ago supplied by a modern russia sur-tout I

As to the comparative antiquity of vellum and leather, I incline, more espe-

450

EIGHTH DAY.

century earlier. It appears to have been the Successor of a
sort of Forrell-hmdmg ; which was the rough, undressed,
skin of the beast, and of which vou now see numerous

cially on the authority of Montfaucon — as quoted at p. 432, ante — to give the
latter the precedence : as in the passage, just referred to, Mantfaucon describes
' calf skin (or leathej^ as I conceive) glued boards.' Perhaps the oldest speci-
men of vellum binding, consisting of the mere skin of the sheep, such as we see
it in numerous instances, is in the possession of Earl Spencer. It happens also
to cover the very rarest book in his library : the Turrecremata of Ulric Han, of
1467, as minutely described in vol. i. p. 384. The condition of the book itself
should seem to justify Casley's eulogy upon the binding— that ' nothing is com-
parable to it for lasting.' I cannot help thinking however that this book must
have been carefully and constantly confined from air, and from the possibility of
external injury ; since, from a binding so thin, and loosely put on, we are naturally
led to conclude it must have otlierwise become a very indiiFerent copy. Lisardo
is amply justified in reprobating forrell, or rough white uncurried leather : so
frequently mentioped in our old book-inventories. It is a mere nursery-ground
for the growth and nutrition of every noxious ingredient ; and should never be
seen upon the shelves of our old libraries. There is a pleasant gossipping note
in Warton's Hist, of Engl. Poetry, vol. iii. p. 145, worth copying here; inas-
much as it gives us a few particulars about ancient vellum binding — and, as it
should seem, of another strange book-surtout ! ' In a roll of John Morys, Warden
of Winchester College, an. xx. Ric. ii. A. D. 1397, are large articles of disburse-
ment for Grails, Legends, and other Service Books for the choir of the chapel,
then just founded. It appears that they bought the parchment; and hired
persons to do the business of writing, illuminating, noting, and binding, within
the walls of tlie college. As thus : " Item, in xi doseyn iiij pellibus emptis pro
i legenda Integra, que incipit folio secuudo [this was the usual method of the
commencement of the texts of books, as we shall briefly and pjeasantly notice in
the Tenth Day] " Quia dixerunt," continente xxxiiij quaterniones (pret. doseyn
iiij s. \id. pret. pellis iiij. ob.) li s. Item in scripturaejusdera Legende, Ixxij s. Et
in illuminacione et ligacione ejusdem, xxxs. Item in vj doseyn de velym
emptis pro factura vj Processionalium, quorum quilibet continet xv quaterniones,
(pret. doseyn iiij s. vid) xxvijs. Et in scriptura, notacione, illuminacione, et
ligacione eorundem, xxxiij s."

' The highest cost (continues Warton) of one of these books is 71. 13s.
Vellum, for this purpose made an article of staurum or store. As, item in vj,
doseyn de velym emptis in staurum pro aliis libris iude faeiendis, xxxiiijs. xjrf.
The books were [sometimes] covered with Deer-skin. As, ' Item in vj pellibus
eeninis emptis pro libris predictis cooperiendis xiijs. iiijd.' Thus Warton. I
remember to have seen a recent and perhaps appropriate instance of binding in
deer-skin. It was Turhervile's Book of Hunting, in 1611, 4to.; which had, on the
exterior, a stag in silver. Mr. Upcot was I believe the possessor, and Mr,
Whittaker the binder, of this singularity. But these are capriccios which should

EIGHTH DAY.

451

specimens among the MSS. of the College libraries. 'Tis
a sad coating for a choice article : a mere engenderer of
damp and mildew : and I hope an edict will be issued by
the Seniors of every College to strip their bettermost MSS.
of such unworthy appendages. Let morocco and russia
supply the places of these unseemly objects of bibliopegistic
art.

In regard to vellum, I apprehend that, during the xvth
century, it was generally used as a plain, unadorned
covering : sometimes, as in the delicious exemplar of the
AMine Aristotle of our friend Atticus, Japping over — and
almost meeting in the centre of the fore-edge— forming a
sort of Ajax-like shield against fextemal injury. This
« lappelled'-coated fashion, however, obtained till towards the
end of the Seventeenth Century ; and you sometimes catch
hold of a delicious Elzevir — white, large, and unsuUied —
that owes its condition to such an homely garb : and further,
when you find a book in this garb, think twice before you
venture to exchange it for the Venetian morocco of Charles
Lewis.* It was not, I believe, till towards the year 1510

be rarely indulged in. Mr. JefFery, the bookseller— who hath oft-times a mirthful
fancy— (taking pftbably the hint from this note of Warton) bound a copy of
Mr. Fox's liistorical work in Fox-skin; and Lord Essex, as I learn, was the
purchaser of it. There is a story current that the renowned Dr. Askew caused
a book to be bound in Human Skin— -(' horresco referens ') for the payment
of which his binder prosecuted him ! Perhaps this story belongs rather to the
bibliomaniacal Dr. Wm. Hunter — who had ' human skin ' preparations in abun-
dance. ' An hundred merry tales ' of similar fancies and conceits may be told —
but again we exclaim — ' ohe jam satis est.'

* the Venetian morocco of Charles Leiuis.] This is a purely technical expres-
sion : meaning a sort of pale-olive coloured morocco, which Roger Payne, the
Father of Classical Binding in this country, designated under the term
of ' Venetian.' The scholar has excelled his master in this department ; but they
shall both have their due ' measures'— not ' of blowing,' as my friend Bernardo
knows full well — but of notice and commendation in a subsequent page.

452

EIGHTH DAY.

that vellum bindings began to be stamped. They were first
stretched out upon an oaken board ; and afterwards, in that
state, they received the arabesque tooling of the ingenious
artist. Nothing can be more lovely — in point of sharpness,
brilliancy, and dehcacy — than well-preserved specimens of
this character ; and when you possess them in their Jirst turn
of colour, from cold white to an ivory tint, you have every
thing that can be wished for in giving effect to arabesque
borders in blind tooling. The melancholy consideration is,
that, from the delicacy of the vellum-surface, and from the
projecting sharpness of the stamped ornaments, this species
of binding, more than any other, is liable to soil and injury.
In the Basil hooks, of the middle of the Sixteenth Century,
there will be found endless specimens of this characteristic
binding.*

* in the Basil Books — endless specimens of this characteristic binding.'\ Let us
briefly review the positions of Lisardo upon the ' vellum-stamped binding' theme.
First, of its antiquity. He places it in the early part of the xvith century ; but
I am not sure whether specimens may not be found of the date of 1490.
Secondly, he is right in the ' loveliness' of fine specimens of this species of bind-
ing : more especially when, as above intimated, they are just on the ' turn' to
an ' ivory tint : ' but in the unavoidable attrition incurred in replacing these
specimens, or takuig sucli volumes down from their places, both the delicacy of
the tint and the sharpness of the ornaments are alike speedily injured. Thirdly,
as to tlie ' Basil books' of this character. Lisardo is right in their general
beauty of appearance, especially about the time of old Conrad Gesner's publica-
tion of his ' Bibliotheca Universalis,' 1545, folio— of which I make no doubt that
very numerous copies were bound, in this manner, ' out of sheets,' as they call it —
and just at the period of its publication. My own copy of this sine qud nan
work is of the character here described ; and so are at least five or six others
which I have seen. Indeed Mr. Bell, the bookseller, of Oundle, happening once
to alight upon a similar copy, in the purchase of a country gentleman's library,
was so transported with it, that conceivmg it to be unique, as well as exquisite,
he was about causing the volume to be sent to London for my inspection :
but this unnecessary expense was interdicted. The vellum covers mentioned
in the Bibliomania, at page 158, doubtless belonged to a Basil book ; and it
has since been my good fortune to witness numberless other similar specimens,

EIGHTH DAY.

453

Lysander. Are the preceding the most usual or common
forms of binding in ancient times ? and do the annals of the
Fifteenth Century furnish us with nothing of morocco-
leather, as a book-exterior ?

LisARDO. In regard to the fi,rst point : do not let it be
supposed that I have exhausted the subject of the various
modes of ancient book-binding. I said, at the beginning,
that I was comparatively but ill versed in this weighty and
dusty discussion ; and stood in need of all the indulgence of
my auditory to put up with the scanty and superficial manner
in which the aforesaid ' weighty ' subject Avas to be treated.
Yet there is one curiosity, connected with the antique branch
of our discussion, which merits notice. It is a book with
leaves of lead, mentioned by Montfaucon,* and bound in

either of whole-length, or half-length figures, of portraits or historical subjects,
of arabesque or heraldic ornaments — of which fac similes may be given without
end. I conceive, however, that the Zurich, Geneva, and Lyons books, of the same
period, exhibit the more rich and curious similar specimens of vellum binding.

* a book with leaves of lead, mentioned by Montf aucon.'\ In the Palxographia
Grceca, p. 16, the authorities of Job, Suetonius, Frontinus, and Pliny, are stated
in support of the existence of books entirely formed of lead. Pretty pocket-
companions these ! Against the consideration of their weight, was to be taken
into account the ductility of the surfaces of the leaves — whereupon they might
plough and cut away as, to the said ancients, seemed most fit and convenient.
' I have only seen one of these leaden books (says Montfaucon) which contained
eight leaves, including its cover or binding — also of the same material ' — ' rings
are fastened through the side-extremity of each leaf, in such a manner, that a
leaden rod or hinge [immissa annulis virga plumbea] running through the rings,
binds the book.' At page 180, he enlarges upon the description ; and gives
a fac-simile of the Binding from which the accompanying plate, upon a
slightly reduced scale, has been taken. Montfaucon ' found the original during
his residence at Rome, and presented it to the Cardinal de Boiiillon. It was
about four inches long, and two and a half wide. The six leaves of lead, con-
tained within the binding, were covered with hieroglyphical ornaments, of which
fac-similes, as well as very ingenious solutions, are also given by the same
learned antiquary. Of its age, there does not appear to be any conjecture : but
the subjects relate to the ' mystical figures of the Basilidiani.' Look further, if
the subject entice thee, gentle reader, into Mabillon De Re Diplom. p. 38, and

454

EIGHTH DAY.

the following manner — which I have caused to be copied
from the pages of that learned antiquary. Admit, at least,
the homeliness of its exterior ; and fancy in what a state
would be the nerves of Lentulus — could he but view his
favourite binder hammering on hinges in order to secure
strength for the back of some choice tome from the press
of the Alduses or the Giunt^ ! But for the copy from
Montfaucon — It is here.

consult Vossius's note upon the ' Membrana Directa plumbo ' of Catullus, p. 54 ;
but more especially Schwarz, De Ornament. Lihror. Vet. p. 202, respecting the
ancient usage of writing upon lead and brass.

EIGHTH DAY

-155

Almansa. How I should shudder if my favourite illus-
trated Prayer-Book* were returned to me in a similar
condition ! But for the morocco-history, dear Lisardp ....

Ltsardo. I am not surprised at the attachment of the
Fair Sex towards this species of binding, which is at once
light, elegant, and substantial. As to the earliest period of
the application of morocco to book-binding, I cannot sup-
pose it to be much before the time of Grolier ; although,
in all probability, that still earlier, and possibly more dragon-
like Bibliomaniac, Corvinus, King of Hungary ^ . . . .

* favourite illustrated Prayer-Book.] See vol. i. p. clxii, respecting the above
Lady's manner of illustrating a prayer-book.

t Dragon-like Bibliomaniac, Corvinus, King of Hungary,] When the
reader, at page 449, ante, stumbled in a sort of quiet and indirect manner upon
the name of Corvinus, it is most probable that he was not aware of the import-
ance attached to that extraordinary character. Lisardo cannot be more enthu-
siastic towards the memory of him than is his annotator. Prepare, therefore, ye,
who love to contemplate the bibliomaniacal portraits of men of other times, not
less distinsuished for wisdom than valour — prepare for some few pages of curious
and not unpleasing intelligence. Mathias Corvinus succeeded his father to
the throne of Hungary in 1457 ; (the very year in which the first Mentz
Psalter was printed — oh rare coincidence!) and extended his reputation as a
soldier, throughout Europe, by the captures of Vienna and Neustadt. With all
the military skill, he possessed all the passion for books, (but without the
characteristic cruelty) of his great imitator, Diego Hurtado a Mendozza ;*
and for tlie last thirty years of his life he spared no expense in the acquisition
of a Library, which placed hhu upon a footing with the most illustrious of tlie
Medici race. So much for proheme, or ' prologue to the swelling act.'

The actions of Corvinus, or rather the history of his library, have been recorded

* It is old Conrad Gesner who mentions this illustrious Spaniard : illustrious,
from birth and family connections — and arabassador at Venice when Gesner
saw him there. Hurtado was fond of mathematics and philosophy ; and had a
noble Library at Venice filled with the rarest books, especially in Greek
literature. Arlenius, who was nmch patronised by this proud and vvealtliy
ambassador, shewed ' old Conrad ' a catalogue of his library. Bibl. Universalis ;
edit. 1.545, fol. 204. rev. Frisius, who has epitomised and enlarged Conrad's
work, has omitted this biblioraaniacal anecdote —to which, some eighteen months
ago, I was referred by my friend Mr. Heber. A plague upon abridgments !
Diego Hurtado a Mendozza, however, had all the ferocity of his countrymen. A
' damned spot ' in his bibliomaniacal escutcheon.

VOL. II. r f

456

EIGHTH DAY.

Belinda. I never heard of such a book-dragon as that
royal gentleman ...

Lorenzo. I am also free to confess my ignorance of that
tremendous Bibliomaniac.

by a multiplicity of writers. Belius, Brassicanus, Olahus, Naldlus, Lambecius,
Pflugk, Nesselius, Maderus, Jenichius, Matthias Ambrosius, Paulus Fabrus—
(here are popular authors, curious reader !) and, latterly, in a special diatribe
entitled ' Dissertatio de Regie. Budensis Bibliothecte Mathioi Corvini Ortii, Lapsu,
hiteritu, et Reliquiis,' by F. Xystus Schier (still more popular !) published at
Vienva in 1799, 8vo. This tract is said to be rare in our own country; but
Kollarius (in his edition of Lambecius's Comment. De Bibl. Citsar. vol. ii.
col. 939, note A) supplies us with a knowledge of the previous writers ; and
Jugler, in his valuable edition of Struvius's Bibliotheca HistoriiE Litteraria, <^c.
1754, vol. i. p. 174, has availed himself of the pith of those wi-iters which are
arranged in such battle-array by Kollarius. From these then, we gather— but
more especially from Schier's curious little treatise— that Corvinus, first of all,
paid particular attention to the locality and construction of his library ; and in
short, upon the authority of Olahus, that he had not fewer than three of these
libraries — ' in different parts of the city of Buda,' or rather in ' the citadel' —
but two of them were much inferior to the one, in the description of which we
are now to disport ourselves. Warton (Hist. Engl. Poet. vol. ii. p. 417) makes
the library to be placed in a ' tower ; ' but Bonfinius uses the word ' arx,' and
Schier not only uses the same word, but describes the book-room as ' unius
cameras peralt^ fornice constructa,' p. 13. This magnificent collection then was
contained in a sort of vaulted gallery, divided into three parts : a fourth part
forming a sort of convenient appendage for the reception of visitors. In this
fourth part were two stained glass windows, and two doors : one of the doors
opening immediately into the library, the other leading to the monarch's private
apartment, where he might slumber upon his ' gilt couch,' or rejoice his heart in
the perusal of some exquisitely illuminated ms. of Virgil or Horace : or, according
to Pflugk — as quoted in the De Bibl. Nov. Access, Coll. Madeiian, 1703, 4to.
vol. i, p. 313 — where he might occasionally enjoy a tete-a-tete repast with his
favourite Regiomontanus. Through the latter of these doors Corvinus was in the
habit of going backwards and forwards to chapel : as thus prettily warbleth
Naldius (edit. Belian. lib. ii. v. 1, p. 611) in Latin hexameters upon the same
subject :

Quadratus mediis locus in penetralibus ergo
Existens, cameras testudine sustinet altas
Incurva ; paries quam cinxerat undique fortis
Decocti lateris, durique a robore saxi ;
Cui geminas lucera fundunt a fronte fenestrae
Compositae vitreisque coloribus : in nova certe

EIGHTH DAY.

457

Philemon. And I am alike guilty of the same ignorance.

Lysander. He lived, if I remember, somewhere about
the middle of the fifteenth century . . . ?

LisARDO. He did so : but is this the whole of Lysander's
information concerning him ? Oh ! for the narrative powers
of Boccaccio to do justice to the name of that truly illus-r

Cunctis, qui veniunt illiic, spectacula rerum.

Inter utramqiie manens una sub parte resedit

Lectulus auratis stratis : ubi regius heros

Saepe solet placidum membris captare quietem.

Ostia bina manent illic, quorum altera mittunt

Intro quosque vires : mittunt quorum altera Regem

Inde foras ; quotiens secreta in sede locatus

Solus adesse cupit sacris, hyranisque caiiendis.
Like all ' true sons' of the Bibliomania, our monarch, as his ardour for
books increased, was compelled to build another gallery, containing two distinct
classes of books : namely. Oriental, including Greek, Hebrew, Syriac Chaldaic,
&c. in one class — and Latin Authors in the other. The ornaments of the gallery
were sufficiently rich and magical ; but among them, a Celestial Globe, (as the
king was vastly attached to astronomy) of exquisite workmanship, seems to have
been noticed with the utmost admiration both by visitors and writers. This globe,
executed at the time of Corvinus's election to the throne, was supported by two
angels ; and, according to Pflugk, had the following distich subjoined :

Cum Rex Matthias suscepit sceptra Bohemtc
Gentis, talis erat lucida forma poli.

And Bonfinius thus makes mention of it: ' Ante banc [bibliothecam] cubiculum
est in absida curvatum, ubi ccelum universum suscipere licet, quo spectat
austrura.' Coll. Mad. vol. i. p. 315. Corvinus, liowever, had other costly and
curious appendages to his book-rooms : and two fountains, in particular — one of
silver and the other of marble — have afforded subjects for the poetical as well as
liistorical muse. We will disport ourselves again with Naldius :

binos modo surgere fontes

Optimus ille jubet Musis, Phoeboque sacratos.

Ex illis alter pario de marmore constat,

Vectus ab Hetniscis oris; argenteus alter.

In quo celando multum consumpsit et artis

Pannoiiiae populus.
Even Politian did not disdain to woo his muse upon the occasion of these fonts
(Pohtian — who, in the dedication of one of his works to Corvinus, urges liis
Blajesty to let hira execute some little commission for hiin by which his library

458

EIGHTH DAY.

trious man — to the deeds of that truly royal-minded mo-
narch ! What magnificence was there in Him ! What a
love of splendour, adapted to the proper objects of cost

may be enriched! ' for,' says he, ' I observe that your Highness is about to
form not only the most beautiful, but the most extensive library in existence')
as may be seen in the pages of Schier —

In fontem Ungari Regis.
Usque Fluentina vectum est hoc marmor ab Urbe,
Mathiae ut Regi largior unda fluat.
Et Alterum

Thusca raanus, Thuscum marmor. Rex Ungarus auctor.
Aureus hoc Ister surgere fonte velit.

But now for the dear ' Bokes ! ' They were placed upon shelves according to
their classes ; and in this manner were covered with silk curtains or hangings,
adorned with silver and gold— or probably with what is now technically called
brocade. The lower recesses, next to the floor, were appropriated to something
like cupboards, which contained MSS. too large for their proper places, or were
of a character not easily admitting of classification. The exterior of this lower
division, or probably the cupboard-doors, were ' cunningly' and oiriously ' carved
by the skill of the sculptor.' The books were chiefly vellum mss. : bound in
brocade, and protected by knobs and clasps of silver, or other precious metal.
Well therefore might Bonfinius call all this—' cultus librorum luxurio-
sissiMus!' And Pflugk, catching a portion of his predecessor's inspiration,
breaks out in the following manner — ' ingenti sumptu amplissimam comparavit
bibliothecam:' and a little onward—' Mathias congessit ex omnibus totius
orbis angulis immensum librorum thesaurum tam MSS. chartaceorum et
membranaceorum,quam impressorum.' De Bibl. Coll. Mad.vol. i. 313, &c. All the
books of Corvinus have the mark, device, crest, or insignia of the monarch— which
was a black crow (borrowed like that of the Roman — from the etymon of the
name— CoRvus) with a ring in his mouth. This crest I presume was seen upon
the first leaf of the book, or was incorporated in some elegant piece of composi-
tion by way of title to the work. The opposite plate is an illustration of what
we are discoursing about: for know, book-enthusiastic reader, that Mathias
Corvinus (' Rex, quem recte librorum Heluonem appellaveris,' says Brassi-
canus) maintained not fewer than Four Librarians abroad and Thirty Scribes or
Illuminators at home!* The engraved plate forms the centra/ portion of an

* ' His Majesty maintained four Librarians at Florence, under the inspection
of Naldius and other clever men, whose principal occupation was to transcribe
all the bettermost Greek and Latin authors, whose works could not be conveni-
ently obtained from thence: for the Art of Printing ['tis our old friend
Brassicanus who speaks] had not at that time sufficiently struck out its roots, so

EIGHTH DAY.

459

and decoration f What patronage of literature, and what
encourao-ement of the Fine Arts ! But there would be no
end to the flourishes of rhetoric in commendation of such

illuminated title page of a MS. of ' Philostrati Heroica et Icones Vita Sophistarum
et Epistolte' — translated from the Greek into Latin by Bonfinius, and dedicated
in an elaborate preface to Corvinus himself. ' This title,' says Lambecius (Edit,
Kollarii, vol, ii. col, 953) not only makes express mention of the Library of
Corvinus, but contains a portrait of the Monarch/ &c. Perhaps a somewhat
similar title-page embellishment graces the MS. of Chrysostom de Sacerdotio,
described at col. 599 of the same work. The reader however must be informed
of a slight liberty taken in the annexed engraving. There has been a transposi-
tion of one of the ornaments. The original measures upwards of 14 inches in
length by more than 9 in width. The portrait of Corvinus is to the left of the
central piece, in an elaborate and beautifully arabesque border ; something like
a similar border, but narrower, being opposite : while, beneath the central piece
here given, are seven laureated heads which encircle the royal arms, &c. It
will be evident that, as the dimensions of this work (to which add the ' capabi-
lities' of the author's purse) would not allow of the whole of this embellishment
being executed, the most interesting portion of it was thought advisable to be
submitted. Accordingly, the portrait of Corvinus is brought into the centre ; thus
hiding a portion of the inscription, the whole of which, in the original, is as
follows: ' DIVO MatthijE Corvino, Principi Invictiss. Vng. Boe. Que Regi,
Philostrati Heroica, Icones, Vita: Sophistarum Et Epistoliz Ab Antonio Bonfine
traductce. et In Cor. Bibliothecam Regia Impensa Relates.' The entire embellish-
ment (republished byNesselius and Kollarius) has a transporting effect — but what
must it have been when fresh from the pencil of the illuminator! ?* Yield, yield,

as to enable the King fully to realise his eager and truly roj'al wishes respecting
literary projects,' Schier, p. 23. Now for the testimony of another ancient
scribe. ' I have heard of old (says Olahus) how King Mathias, during his life,
had always in constant occupation full thirty amanuenses skilled for their talent
in painting ; and with most of whom I was acquainted after the death of his
Majesty. Their occupation consisted chiefly in the execution of Greek and
Latin MSS. They were under the superintendence of Felix Ragusinus,
whom I knew when he was an old man, and who was not only conversant in
Greek and Latin, but with Chaldaic and Arabic authors: moreover, he was
skilled in a knowledge of painting, and kept a pretty sharp look out upon the
performances of the said thirty illuminators.' But it should seem that
Gherardo, a Florentine artist, [who has been slightly noticed in vol. i.
p. cxxv] ' had a 'hand' in many of these illuminations : Schier, p. 23. What if
' our well beloved' Gherardo executed the frontispiece — of which a portion is
given in the annexed plate!.'' The prhicipal librarian of Corvinus seems to
have been Bartholomeus Fontius ; ' a learned Florentine, and writer of many
philological works,' says Wartoii, vol. ii. p. 418.

* Something like a similar embellishment seems to have graced a MS. of the
version of Ptolemy by Trapezuntius, in the same library. Schier is very minute

460

EIGHTH DAY.

an extraordinary character! Quietly and soberly, then,
suffice it to know, that Mathias Corvinus was King of

je Gkoliers, De Thous, and Dianas of Poictiers .... But the Library of
this bibliomaniacal king — exclaims the bipedical Book Worm! I obey the
summons with the promptitude of Ariel.

The number of volumes contained in this wonderful collection may be safely
computed at thiriy thousand. Some, however, have pushed it tojifty thousand : but
I apprehend computations of this kind are generally extravagant. Such was the
splendor and such the extent of the Corvinian Library, when Brassicanus,
who had been an eye-witness of its grandeur, broke out in the followmg rap-
turous strain. ' Quot libros, tot etiam thesauros, isthic inspexi. Dii Immortales!
Quam jucundum hoc spectaculura fuisse, quis credat? Tunc certe non in Biblio-
theca, sed in Jovis gremio, quod ajunt, mihi esse videtur.' He then goes on to tell
how most of these treasures had been acquired by the capture of Constantino-
ple, and the purchase of Greek MSS. from the destruction of many cities in
middle Greece— concluding thus: ' Tantum hie erat Latinorum librorum et
veterum et recentiorum (procul tamen ablegatis omnibus sophisticis) ut nusquam
alibi, quod ego quidem sciam . . .Vidimus auctores graecos iiinuraerabiles, infinita-
que in Poetas fere omnes commentaria, nemini Uoctorum, aut paucibus omnibus
visa.' There's for you, ye Buhneys, and Gaisfords, and Blomfields of the
day ! But the fate of these treasures was at hand : a fate, as cruel as it was
premature and unexpected. A mournful tale is now to be told.

What the immediate successor of Mathias did (that is, from the year 1490*

in his account of the beautiful ornaments of which that frontispiece was com-
posed : it bore the date of 1467. See his Dhsertatio, <^c. j). 72-3. There are in
the public library of Brussels (according to La Serna Santander) two magnificent
MSS. which once graced the libraiy of Corvinus. I'he first is a Latin Evangelis-
tarium, written in letters of gold upon the most beautiful vellum— and not
inaptly called The Golden Book. It had become the property of Philip II. of
Spain, who kept it in the Escuria! library under lock and key ; and it is said to
have been formerly shewn to strangers with great ceremony and by torch light !
• However this may be, 'tis a precious morceau, and of finished execution,' adds
Santander. The other MS. is a magnificent Missal highly illuminated. See la
Bibliotheque de Bourgogne, p. 39. This latter must be the same which is noticed
(and questioned as having belonged to tlie library of Corvinus) by Schier, p. 73.

* Corvinus died in this year. On receiving intelligence of his death, the
Emperor Maximilian I. is said to have burst into tears. Thus kindred biblio-
maniacal souls feel for the departure of each other! (Consult vol. i. p. 200-208,
respecting the book-achievements of the latter.) Corvinus is said to have died
of an apoplexy— while he was busied in fitting out an expedition against the
Turks. VVhether ' all the lions which were shut up in the tower of Buda
suddenly died at the same moment,' we need not stop to enquire : but the follow-
ing inscription seems to have been placed upon his tomb :

Corvini brcvis hajc urna est, quern magna fatenlur
Fata fuisse hominem, facta fuisse Deum.

De Bibl, Coll. Mud. vol. i, p. 31 4,

EIGHTH DAY.

461

Hungary, and died about the year 1490 : having devoted
very many years of the latter part of his hfe to the amassing
of an IMMENSE LiBRAEY, at a time when Printing could

to 1526) either towards the increase or dimunition of the library, may not be
exactly known : but I believe the spirit of its Founder had ceased to beat in
the breasts of his successors. The miserable death of Louis II. on the plains of
Mohats, together with the loss of the flower of his nubility, seemed U) expedite
the destruction of this magnificent library. Soliiiian II. laid siege to Buda in
September 1526. The city was taken by assault; and the Library, with all
its exquisite appurtenances, became a prey to the rapacity of Turkish soldiers.
The bindings, torn from the precious materials which they protected, were
stripped of their ornaments : the MSS. were either burnt or trampled to powder :
and what had survived the fury of the first assailants, was crammed into a sort
of subterraneous vault to moulder or perish as chance should direct. Of the
' thirty five thousand' volumes just noticed, scarcely three hundred are now
known to exist : although Lambecius reckoned four hundred. Sambucus secured
a few ; but it is not true that Busbequius became possessed of any. Jugler, vol. i.
p. 176 : Schier, p. 59, 79. Warton says (on the authority of the Coll. Mad.
Access, vol. i. p- 310, and Belius, vol. iii. p. 125) that ' Cardinal Bozmanni
offered, for the redemption of this inestimable collection, two hundred thousand
pieces of the imperial money ; yet without effect, for the barbarous besiegers
defaced or destroyed most of the books, in the violence of seizing the splendid
covers and the silver bosses and clasps with which they were enriched. The
learned Obsopaeus relates, that a book was brought him by an Hungarian soldier,
which lie had picked up, with many others, in the pillage of King Corvinus's
libraiy, and had preserved as a prize, merely because the covering [what an
illustrative anecdote for the Eighth Day of this Decameron !J retained some
marks of gold and rich workmanship. This proved to be a MS. of the Ethiopics
ofHeliodorus ; from which, in the year 1534, Obsopaeus printed at Basil the first
edition of that elegant Greek Romance.' Hist. Engl. Poet. vol. ii. p. 418. The
name of the soldier was Onoldinus (This man might have been a biblio-
mixniac !) Introd. to the Classics, vol, ii. p. 366.

The remains, such as they are, of this once stupendcus and matchless
CoLLECTJON, are now deposited in the Imperial Library at Vienna — thanks to
the enterprising spirit of Lambecius, backed by the generosity of the then
Emperor of Germany ! Lambecius (edit. KoUarii, vol. ii. col. 939) has given a
long gossipping account, in his usual manner, of his mission to Buda in 1666, for
the purpose of recovering the remains of the Corvinian Library. He found them
in a crypt of the citadel, barely lighted with one window, and ventilated with
one door — ' about 400 volumes in number, cl.ieily printed books, and of com-
paratively small value — lying upon an earthen floor, and so covered with dirt
and filth, that a more wretched spectacle could scarcely present itself. The

462

EIGHTH DAY.

scarcely be said to have attained its maturity : — and having
exhausted, both in the architectural decorations of his
library, and in the embellishments of the books themselves,
almost every thing which ingenuity could suggest, and the
power of wealth carry into execution. He was the Cosmo,
or the Lorenzo de Medici, of Hungary : call him by
which name you please.

Lorenzo. Where is this Corvinian Library to be
seen ?

Philemon. I will take post-horses ere sun-set, and
borrow ' the wings of the wind * when the fleetness of my
coursers fail ! . .

LisARDO. You need do neither. List !. . . The library of
Corvinus has ceased to exist.

Lysander. Oh horrible !

Philemon, Tell us, I pray . . .

LisARDo. Briefly then ; this library was situated at Buda,
the capital of the Hungarian empire. Soliman II. beseiged

learned Lambecius might have gratified his reader with the following affecting
passage from Richard de Bury's PMlobiblon — so peculiarly apposite to the cir-
cumstances of the case. ' Delicatissimi quondam libri, [exclaims that most
enthusiastic bibliomaniacal Lord Chancellor of England — when shall we see ' his
like again?'] corrupti et abhorainabiles iara effecti, murium foetibus cooperti, et
vermium morsibus terebrati, iacebant exanimes ; et qui olim purpura vestiebantur
et bysso, nunc in cinere & cilicio recubantes, oblivioni traditi videbantur, domi-
cilia tinearum.' PMlobiblon, p. 30, edit. Oxon. 1599. Three MSS only (and
those of the Fathers) were permitted to be taken away. But in the year 1686
Buda was captured by the Austrian arms ; and the whole of these ' remains' were
transported to Vienna. Pflugk has given a catalogue of them. They consisted
of about 290 articles ; of which only one MS. was Greek ; upwards of 100 were
Latin : and the rest were printed Books ! ! ! But here let us draw a curtain —
not of gold-embedded silk, or brocade, like unto that used in the library just dis-
coursed of — but of black, impenetrable crape ! The imagination sickens to dwell
longer upon a narrative which only fills the eyes with tears, and causes the ' stout
heart' of the bibliomaniac to break in twain. Live for ever, Mathias Corvinus
King of Hungary ! ! !

EIGHTH DAY.

463

and sacked that city about the year 1526 ; and the books,
with all their ' precious garniture, fell a prey to the in-
furiated Turks !

Lysander. Demons ! you should say.

LisARDo. I can sympathize in your irascibility. Yes :
that library, vast, rich, precious, and costly beyond com-
pare, was wantonly destroyed by the rapacious soldiers . . .
and all the remains of it, at present existing, are dwindled
down to some three or four hundred volumes, now preserved
in the imperial library at Vienna ! — shorn, however, of their
original brightness. So true it is, that we heap up riches
and ' cannot tell who shall gather them.'

Belinda. Heart-rending subject ! But proceed, great
monarch, with the morocco-narrative : that binding, to
which you are pleased to say our Sex are so partial,

LisARDo. Not more so, I believe, than our own. Of the
exact period of its introduction, I will by no means take
upon me to specify anything. Yet I have doubts whether
the use of it were general before the time of Grolier : that
well-known and munificent Book-Collector of the earlier
part of the Sixteenth Century — vipon whom Philemon (as
he may well remember) expatiated somewhat when we last
met to discourse upon the Bibliomania.*

Philemon. I well remember the circumstance : but do
you mean to take up the * morocco ' theme without first
noticing the earher use of hoards covered with stamped
leather 9

Ltsardo. Certainly not. On the contrary, just as Belinda
was about putting the question, I had resolved to select,
from my collection, a few specimens of this ancient manner

* See the work so called at page 654.

464

EIGHTH DAY.

of binding : which preserved both its merit and identity till
stamped vellum seems to have taken the place of it. I
cannot, however, begin without calling to mind the ex-
tremely perfect and magnificent specimens of this oak
leather-covered binding which may be seen in the choice
collection of the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville ; * and of a
similar and still more ancient specimen in the possession of
Mr. George Nicol,-|- Bookseller to his Majesty. Neither of
these can be later than the year 1472, but the latter is more
probably full twelve years earlier. See here, however, what
I have caused to be copied from the calf-stamped binding
of a MS. OF Claudian, of the xiiith century, in the
British Museum.]: They are only a few of the ornaments,

* choice collection of the Right Hon. Thomas GrenvUle.l It is the Spira Livy
of 1470 to which Lisardo alludes. Mr. Grenville has recently obtained this
wonderful copy of the rare edition here mentioned from Mr. Laing of Edinburgh.
Both its interior and exterior are alike magnificent ; the latter being in what we
call pure monastic binding. I have seen about seven copies of this beautiful pro-
duction of the Spira-press — (of which there exists one upon vellum : see Bibl.
Spencer, vol. i. p. 130-2) the first edition of Livy with a printed date — but Mr.
Grenville's copy (to borrow a homely but not very inexpressive phrase) ' flogs
them all !'

t in the possession of Mr. George Nicol.'] The reader has before had a sort of
flourishing description of the ' ancient specimen' here alluded to: see vol. i.
p. 339. It is a copy of the Mazarine Bible, of the supposed date of 1455,
printed upon vellum : and such another copy of the work is probably no
where to be found. Our business here is with the binding of it — which exhibits
the central and corner bosses, upon the stamped-calf covered boards, into which
it was originally put : possibly under the superintendence of old Fust himself!
The interior is richly deserving of its outer-coat — rude and rugged, as the
jnorocco-smitteu collector may conceive that outer coat to be !

^ MS. of Claudian of the xiiif/i Century in the British Museum.'] The MS,
itself is now properly preserved in a new binding of russia ; but the old one was
pointed out to me by Mr. Baber. It is pretty smartly peppered and perforated
by the ravages of our ' mortal enemy ' the Worm : see p. 445 ante. The leather is
now of a blackish hue ; with its interior thick vellum coating attached to it : the
whole having been glued (out of compliment to the memory of Phillatius,
see page 426 ante) to boards. Above are selected only the different ornaments

EIGHTH DAY.

465

■without any attempt at grouping them in the manner in
which they are arranged upon the old cover. Of themselves,
they exhibit nothing interesting except as with reference to
their antiquity. In the original, their combinations are
really not divested of taste.

I will now continue the history with a few further speci-
mens of this character of stamped calf binding ; which has
been recently revived by the ingenuity of Mr. J. Hering.*
Portraits, or small historical subjects, are however rarely seen
before the year 1480; as arabesques were the prevailing orna-
ment during the fifteenth century. They began pretty early
in the sixteenth century with these ' portraits,^ or ' small

upon the exterior-cover : the Umits of the page not permitting a fac-simile of
their combination. I suspect however the binding to be niucli later than the
MS : althougli the former may probably be of quite the earlier part of the
fifteenth century.

* the ingenuity of Mr. J. Hering.'] Lord Spencer has recently had several of
his earlier printed books bound in this manner by Herhig. The effect is very
delicate and beautiful ; but we do not yet discover the sharp and deep inden-
tations of our bibliopegistic forefathers. What perhaps Mr. Hering has rather
failed in, is, the colour of the leather. ' Say what you please, there's nothing
like leather.' I deny this, however, ' totis viribus ' — as Serjeants Glyn and
Hill used to do, in mooting law-points— according to Burrowe.

466

EIGHTH DAY.

historical subjects'' — as the following specimens, of the date
of 1 5 14, may prove.*

About a dozen years later (as I conceive) is the composition
of the Visio?i of Augustus, exhibited upon the same kind
of binding — to which I must now direct your particular
attention, Do the initials below designate the name
of the artist who achieved this wonderful deed? It is

* specimen, of the date of 1 514, may prove-l I have unluckily lost sight of
the volume from which the above fac-^imile was taken. It was however
printed at the Asceiisian Press, either in 1514, 1515, or 1516. The binding
was certainly coeval. Generally speaking, I apprehend, Lisardo is right : as
there are probably few specimens of ' portraits,' or ' small historical subjects,'
upon the outsides of binding, before the year 1480.

t direct your particular attention.'^ The opposite plate represents the subject
above-mentioned by Lisardo. It was taken from an old calf cover — like that of
the Claudian just mentioned •, which was lent to me by Mr. Buckman : who Iiad
conceived it to be an object of some little curiosity. Perhaps Lisardo does
not attach to it a sufficiently ancient date. Specimens of these subjects are
however endless.

Boimd in Leather: albomttlievear 1530o

EIGHTH DAY.

467

doubtful : yet we have occasionally the name of the artist
at full length upon these book-covers, f as thus — where we
read the name of Bloc*

Sometimes we observe an inscription without a name.
Look you here — at a vastly pretty specimen of this kind !-|-

* the name of Bloc] Consult for one moment, vol. i. p. clxxii, where another
bibliopegistic artist, of the name of John Guilebert, is noticed. Bloc and
Guilebert seem to have chosen pretty nearly the same style of arabesque —
and, as much as we know of them, let us consider them as the Nisus and
EuRYALUs of their art — at any rate let us hope they were ' fortunati arabo!'

t a vastly pretty specimen of this hind.'] It is the whole of the side cover of a
calf-binding of a work printed at Strasbourg in 1527, entitled, ' Jacobi Comitis
Pvrliliarvm, de Re Militari Libri II. lam recens ceditV I take the binding to be
what is called coeval; and it may be considered both a fair and curious specimen
of that style of art here particularly under consideration. My friend Mr. Douce
(whose library contains treasures of every description) possesses an old specimen
of book-binding by Iohis de Gaitere, with this inscription — ' loris de Gaitere
me ligavit in Gandavo [Ghent] omnes sancti angeli et archangeli dei orate pro
nobis.' Another of Mr. Donee's covers has the name of Iehan Norris. The
initials of I. R. are on a third specimen.

46S

EIGHTH DAY.

which may serve also as a sample of what was geiicrallj
used till towards the middle of the Sixteenth Century —
where we may take our leave of oak-covered stamped-
CALF bindings.

EIGHTH DAY.

469

Let us revert to the ' morocco' theme ; and with it to
the mention of Grolier. Yet, on second thoughts, I
cannot take upon me to say that that illustrious Collec-
tor was the first who set the example of binding books in
morocco ; for if my memory do not fail me, there is, in the
Cracherode Collection^ a specimen of something like morocco
and coeval binding in the AntJiologi/ of 1494 * However, if
you please, let Grolier have the merit of bringing morocco
into vogue. To dilate upon the beauty, dehcacy, and rich
BINDINGS of the books which formed his matchless collec-

* something like morocco and coeval binding in the Anthology of 1494.] After
a careful examination I cannot make up my mind to tlie admission of this
inference. The binding is undoubtedly original ; and, of its kind, hardly to be
surpassed. In the centre of one side is an indented cameo-like head probably
of Philip ; while on the reverse, is an inscribed head of Alexander. No other
ornament is seen; and there are, as usual, but few bands at the back. All
breathes a quiet, classical taste, while the leather is of a subdued crimson tint. I
never look at this lovely volume, (large, white, and spotless — yet alas! not
free from imperfection, as its first leaf of text is ms.) without calling to mind
what must have been the original condition (both as to binding and interior) of
Lord Spencer's vellum copy of the same woi-k ! That copy had been once the
property of Lorenzo de Medici and Leo X. It was obtained by his Lordship of
Count Revickzky ; but the Count (who had the worst possible bibliopegistic taste
of any living collector) chose 'to part with the original binding of it, for a spruce
flaming red-morocco vestment—with a pea-green lining— from the clumsy tools of
Kalthoeber. ■ His Lordship endured the punishment of looking at this frightful
object long enough ; when he sent it, some twelve months ago, to Charles Lewis,
who • turned it out 'an article of consummate taste and elegance. Mr. Granville,
who has also a vellum copy of the same work, (from the Mac-Carthy collection)
consigned it to the same hands to be modelled ' after the like fashion.' These
caraeo-like stamped covers are somewhat uncommon. Lord Spencer has re-
cently obtained rather a desirable copy of a specimen of this kind, in a Sidonius
Apollinaris, printed at Basil, in 1542, 4to. The ornament, in hollow, represents
Pegasus on a rock, with a charioteer drivin-g two horses towards it. It is an
oblong oval of about 2 inches by one and a half, with an inscription of
OPQfiS KAI MH AOHinS. (' straight forward and not obliquely.') Another
similar specimen is in a fine copy (in 12mo.) of an Italian version of Appian's
account of the Civil TFars, printed about the same period, among Storer's books in
Eton-college library.

470

EIGHTH DAY.

tion,* were a waste of words and of time. The bibliomaniacal
world — and more particularly the circle I am now address-
ing— are intimately versed in such a ' darling theme.'

* his matchless Collection.'] The ' matchless collection ' of Grolier has been so
frequently described, is so generally known, and so unequivocally admitted, that
I almost agree with Lisardo that an elaborate account of the GHOLiEn Library
would be equally a ' waste of words and of time.' ' Yet . . . something, if you
please, good mister Rosicrucius, (exclaims the enthusiastic lover of that great
man's memory) respecting this same ' collection '—some little gossip, or chit-chat,
or notice, or memorandum, would be extremely delectable.' Say you so, friends
Menalcas, Palmerin, Honorio, and Hippolito?! Look, I beseech you,
into a ' certain werke ycleped ' the Bibliomania, p. 654-6—' won't that do ?' 'As
far as it goes, it may'— replies Honorio, with a convulsed energy of action — « but,
" a little onward lend thy guiding hand :" give us some supplemental Groleriana .'"
As I prefer supplements to abridgments (see the damnatory sentence respect-
ing Frisius's abridgment of Gesner, p. 455, ante) thou shalt be accommodated,
excellent Honorio ; but I must study ' brevity' as much as the ght)st of Hamlet's
father.

Having in the pages just referred to given the reader some notion of the general
beauty of Grolier's books, let us here only say a word or two about his Cabineti
It is the pleasant Jacob who thus narrates, chiefly on the authority of De Thou :
' ie treuue que pour vne seule fois. Ton achepta le cabinet de Jean Grolier,
natif de Lyon, Clieualier, Viscomte d'Aguisi, Thesorier de Milan et de France,
I'honneur des lettres de son temps, et le plus grand rechercheur d'antiquitez, que
de long-temps eust paru dans ce Royaume ; lequel apres sa mort auoit est6 porte
iusqu'a Marseilles pour estre transporte a Rome, afin d'y estre vendu : Ce qui
fut dit au Roy Charles IX. qui commanda que I'on eust a faire rapporter ce
Cabinet, pour esti-e joint auec le sien, faisant payer la valeur aux heritiers
d'iceluy Grolier, ainsi que le remarque le docte President De Thou,' &c.
Traicti des plus belles BibliotMques, 1644, 8vo. p. 474. The transaction does
honour to the memory of Charles IX. Indeed the cuticle of that monarch had
been so plentifully punctured by the bibliomaniacal lancet of his famous tutor,
Jacques Amyot, that such a measure is hardly to be wondered at; especially
when it is known that Amyot was afterwards appointed Librarian to his
Majesty ; and that his master increased the number of MSS. in the royal
collection at Fontainebleau, from 15 to 140— not including the printed books.
Essai Hist, sur la Bibl. du Roi, 1782, 8vo. p. 27. The dispersion of the Grolier
Library was undoubtedly a great loss to the lovers of belles lettres at Paris,
Jacob seems moved ' even to tears' in discoursing upon the subject : ' Entre les
grandes pertes qui sont arriu^es aux muses du debris des fameuses bibliotheques,
ie puis mettre celle de feu M. Jean Grolier . . . General des Finances du Roy,
qui estoit en telle estime de son viuant pour la rarete de ses liures, et le grand

EIGHTH DAY.

471

Suffice it to say that, whether in calf or morocco, his binder
appears to have always listened to the instructions of his
Employer : for books with larger margins are no where to

amas de ses curiositez, qu'elle estoit vne merueille de son siecle,' &c. p. 589.
He then quotes La Croix du Maine and De Thou : the substance of tlie latter of
which appears in the Bibliomania, p. 656. The family of Grolier, which was
Lyonese, resided at Lyons in the time of Jacob, in very respectable circum-
stances. La Croix du Maine notices one of them, of the name of Peter, a lawyer
at Lyons in 1555 : who drew up a pleading in behalf of a poor unhappy lover,
unjustly detained a prisoner. Juvigny thinks this pleading would be found ' a
la suite des Arrets d'Amours.' Bihl. Franpise, <^c. vol. ii. p. 286. Vigneul-
Marville (edit. 1725) seems to rejoice in the possession of many of the treasures
which came from the Grolier collection: but Lord Spencer has, methinks, a
particular cause of exultation in the possession of Grolier's own (dedication)
copy, UPON VELLUM, of the Biidaus de Asse, executed at the Aldine press in
1522, 4to. and dedicated to our illustrious bibliomaniac by that distinguished
scholar. This precious book was purchased from the Soubise collection (Cat.
Soubise, no. 8010) by Count Macarthy, and from the sale of the library of the
latter, at Paris, by his Lordship — against the bidding of the Royal book-pur-
veyors. Oh brave ! Let us put the finishing stroke to these Grolieriana by a
fac simile of the hand-writing of the illustrious bibliomaniac here discoursed of,
as it appears in the Aldine Boccaccio of 1522 — thanks to Mr. Evans for the hint
of its existence, and to Mons. Van Praet for the trouble of procuring the fac-
simile.

f<? . Cx vol -veri^ i-j «^c/i^ e7vp.s

^ Bt atrn corVL4n ,

I know not why Lisardo should omit to notice the style of binding ia the books
of Francis I : that monarch having been luxurious in the extreme in the
indulgence of the bibliomaniacal passion. Whether lie used morocco before
Grolier — or whether his library at Fontainebleau consisted chiefly of velvet or
silk, or brown or white calf, bindings — it is wholly out of my power to determine.
The Essai Historique sur la Bibliotheqne du Roi, 1782, Bvo. p. 24, informs us that
' before the reign of Francis I. the books in the royal collection were covered
with velvet or other precious stuffs, of all modes and colours : the calf bindings
were very simple, and differed according to the tastes of the different countries
where they were bound.' I make no doubt however of the Missals of Francis
having received velvet covertures. Perhaps Count Hoym and De Rome
together contrived to strip the lovely volume of devotion, described in vol. i. p,
clxxvii. of its original binding of velvet, for the more flaunting one of red mo-
rocco : but let the lover of curious research, and costly workmanship, peruse the

VOL. II. G ff

472

EIGHTH DAY

be found. And as for exterior ornament, that ornament was
generally in excellent good taste : quiet and simple, yet rich
and flowing. Look at what I have caused to be copied for
your instruction. This was the usual ornament of Grolier;*
and you will understand, from the subjoined inscription,
that he wished his books to be ' used hy his friends as well
as hy himself.^ Grolier is the first who set that memorable
example of liberality.

Grolier had probably a host of imitators, of whom the
names of several have entirely escaped us ; but there is one
name — that of Maioli — which is sufficiently well known to
experienced collectors. I regret to say that I am absolutely
ignorant of his personal history. You will however be pleased

tempting description of a ' Perd'henres — fait par ordre et aux depens du Roi de
France, Francois I. &c. &c. reli6 en velours rouge et dore sur Tranche,' in the
Bihl. Menarsiana, 1720, 8vo. p.l. no. 1. — which produced 2065 livres at the sale
of that collection. This Missal seems to eclipse the one just referred to ; and to
be, in fact, the ne plus ultra of a devotional volume. Where is its present resting
place? I believe no bibliographer, including Naude, Jacob, Gallois, La Caille,
Formey, &c. has told us how the books of Francis were generally bound : yet
Lord Spencer possesses the Aldine Lusiis &c. in Priapum, 1534, 8vo. with that
monarch's arras and device (the salamander) upon the sides.

* the iisual ornament of Grolier.'] See the opposite cut: not howevfer that
very many others, of equal beauty, might not be selected — but the opposite
embellishment may be fairly called the ' usual' one of Grolier. It is on a
reduced scale, as the original is a full sized folio : belonging to my friend Mr.
Hebcr. The general condition of the binding, in brown mellow-tinted calf, is
such as to rejoice the eye of a collector of taste. Indeed I know not where
there will be found a more perfect specimen ; (including the back — which i
generally impaired) and 1 wish, for the sake of its owner, that such a binding
had enclosed some curious, or ' rich and rare' edition of a Greek, Latin, or Italian
poet : or some impression of comical old French poetry described in the Bibiio-
theque Frungdse of Goujet : or, in short, almost any thing but what it does enclose !
Did'st ever hear, classical reader, of tlie Chronicle of Freculphus — 1539,
folio? 'Vox faucibus hseret.' Memorandum: in the accompanying fac-simile
it must be observed tliat I h;ivc caused both the inscriptions or raottos of Grolier
to be engraved on the same side. In the original, the author's name (frightful
as it is) is found in the centre of the side, beneath which is the liberal motto of
' Gnoi.iERi ET Amicorum.*

474

EIGHTH DAY.

with this pretty specimen of the binding of his books, with
which the hbrary of our host has furnished us.* The

EIGHTH DAY.

475

name of Maioli is eagerly hunted after by modem biblio-
maniacs ; but in the rival Poliphilos of these two colossal
collectors, we cannot but acknowledge the triumphant supe-
riority of the Grolier copy.-f- However, Maioli thought

* the library of our Host has furnished m.] See the opposite cut. Lord
Spencer has a similar pattern in the Aldine Aulus Gellius of 1515, once the copy
of Maioli. Quick, curious, and loquacious as our Gallic neighbours are, they
have suffered their literary annals to be wholly barren respecting the name of
Maioli. The Dictonnaire Universel passes it ' sub silentio.' Nor do the instruc-
tive pages of Tiraboschi furnish us with any clue (if Maioli be an Italian) to the
pedigree or memoirs of the bibliomaniac hi question. I would give three uncut
Alduses (of whatever kind) for permission to make transcripts from the original
correspondence of Grolier and Maioli ! — for that such men, with such tastd's,
living at the same time, and in tlie same country, with each other, must have
corresponded — is, to my humble apprehension, almost mathematically certain.
What ' plesaunt ' tales, what pithy and pungent anecdotes, respecting large
paper, vellum, and illuminated copies . . . what confessions of rivalry, and what
triumphs of superiority would such a correspondence disclose ?

t triumphant superiority of' the Grolier copy.^ The worthy Mr. Payne, of
bibliopolistic renown, was extremely anxious, when I visited the British Museum,
that I should pay especial attention to the Maioli copy of the Poliphilo in the
Cracherode Collection : — ' for (says he) I am pretty sure that it runs the
Grolier copy very Iiard — if it does not beat it hollow.' As I had a sort of
partiality for this said Grolier copy — having given a very elaborate (does the
saucy reader say ' long-winded ?') description of the contents of it in the Bibl.
Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 145, I was naturally anxious (though by no means
nervous or fearful) to make a comparison between these rival tomes. The
result of the comparison proved — the fallacy of Mr. Payne's supposition!
Grolier had the better of Maioli in height by full half an inch; while in
colour and breadth he shewed an equally manifest superiority, Mr. Payne
received the intelligence of the discomfiture of Maioli with unexampled compla-
cency and self-possession . . . but since that event I have discovered, whenever
the name of Maioli has been pronounced, a sort of hurried or nervous action of
the right hand — or rather of the finger and thumb of the same hand : — so as to
scatter abroad ' the pungent grains of titilating dust ' which ' ever and anon ' he
draweth out of his ' pouncet box.' The book-world knows full well that Lord
Spencer is the fortunate owner of the Grolier Poliphilo : tlie binding of which
evinces the same superiority over Maioli's copy as do its dimensions and con-
dition. However, the Maioli copy furnished me with the above monogram of
the name of its owner, upon the centre of one of the sides ; which I do not
remember to have seen in any other specimen of the binding in question.

Mr. Singer possesses a curious volume or two from the library of Maioli ; each

470

EIGHTH DAY.

proper occasionally to put his monogram upon the exterior
of his own copy, thus — which rarely occurs.

From the mention of these two well-known names, the
transition to that of De Thou seems natural and quick.
Yes, illustrious Thuanus ! (for the ladies are hereby
informed that the latter is only the latinised appellative of
the former) thy name, of greater celebrity than either of
those previously pronounced, shall ' live for aye ' — * not

in characteristic binding, and possibly in better taste than the above exhibited
by Lisardo. An Italian edition of the Psalms of David, printed in 1534, 4to. is
one of those treasures ; and what renders it a singularly felicitous specimen, it
appears to have been previously Grolier's own copy — as his hand-writing (in
the inscription of ' Portio mea domine sil in terra viueiitiu') is in the title-page of
the book, beneath a scriptural text written also by the same hand. The reverse
side of the binding exhibits this fantastical motto : . INIMICI . MEI . MEA.
MICHI. NON. ME. MICHI. An Aldine Quintus Curtius of 1520 is the
second of Mr. Singer's Maioli treasures, in very tasteful red morocco binding.
It is however due to the same judicious collector, to say, that in his Grolier
large paper copy of Lazius, de Gentium aliquot Migrationibus, dj-c. Basil, 1557,
folio, he possesses the richest specimen of tlie Grolier binding which I remem-
ber to have seen : but as a specimen of varied and gracefully flowing ornament,
I hardly know what to pronounce superior to the same gentleman's copy of
Le Timee de Platon, 1581, 4to.: in olive colour calf; bound, I suspect, some-
where towards the year 1600. A pretty brochure might be composed in endea-
vouring to appropriate these old, elegant, but generally nameless treasures.
There would be no end, in the present place, to detail and idle conjecture.

* Illustrious Thuanus \ ... thy name ' shall live for aye. '] Whatever may
be the degree of enthusiasm cherished by Lisardo, towards the name and
memory of De Thou, I cannot sulFer it to predominate over that indulged by
his annotator. Yet let me beware of a frightfully long note, similar to the Corvi-
nian achievement ; (see page 455, ante) as some little respectnig the library of
Thuanus will be found in the Bibliomania, p. 129. Here then foUoweth a sup-
plement thereto. James Augustus Thuanus, or De Thou, was the third son of

EIGHTH DAY.

^77

only as a Book-Collector, but as an able diplomatist, a
skilful scholar, and a generous patron.

Christopher de Thou, first President of the Parliament of Paris, &c. &c.t
and was born in tlie year 1553. His infancy was sictly in the extreme : so
much so, that his life could scarcely have been insured for 24 hours till he had
reached his fifth year. Niceron is communicative enough upon the diet of his
early youth : see his M^moires, &c. vol. ix. p. 309, &c. The cure of his health
was the principal occupation of those around him, even until his tenth year — and
his chief amusement, during this period of infantine debility, was, the exercising
his pencil in illuminating precious little scraps of old vellum MSS. What an
earnest of his future bibliomaniacal career ! He was brought up to the church,
and studied under his uncle Nicholas De Thou, in the cloisters of Nostre Dame ;
and on his uncle's advancement to the episcopacy, he succeeded to a canonry in
the cathedral which had become vacant by such promotion. Fourteen years of
his life were devoted to the peaceful occupations of the cloister ; and here (says
Niceron) ' he began to lay the foundation of his library, wliich in the end was
so vast and so celebrated.' Whatever were his bibliographical or bibliomaniacal
theories, he had soon an opportunity of improving them by experience ; for in
1573 he travelled into Italy with Paul de Foix ; and returned from such tour
enriched in books and in knowledge. How many large paper Alduses, or uncut
Giuntas, he purchased during this excursion, is not upon record.

On the death of his brother, De Thou left the church and took to the senate :
where he was daily advanced in the confidence of the king, and where he quickly
shewed how admirably fitted his talents were for diplomatic negotiation. I will
have uotliing to do here with his public life. That is almost every where recorded.
Nor will I touch upon his literary fame— built upon his immortal ' History of his

t Mammert Patisson, who married the widow of old Robert Stephen, and
who appears to have printed with his very types, (see La Caille, p. 161) put
forth a beauteous quarto tome in 1583— the year after Christopher De Thou s
death— entitled ' V. AmpUss. Christophori Thvani Tvmvlvs ' filled with tlirenodaical
strains, in almost all languages, respecting the same character. A fine copper-
plate portrait of him is on the reverse of the title-page. I mention this chiefly
to notice a copy of Patisson's book, upon large paper, (lately in the possession
of Mr. Edwards, and now in that of Sir M. M. Sykes, Bart.) which had not
only belonged to our De Thou, but has the binding (in olive-colour morocco)
completely covered with representations of tears. This Mofee-style of book-
coverture is at least a testimony of the filial affection of onr great bibliomaniac :
whose arms are in the centre, but surmounted with a cherubic head instead of a
helmet—the crest of the father. If the curious reader wishes for a specimen of
these tears, I present him with the following— precisely as they are seen on the
binding.

478

EIGHTH DAY.

LoKENzo. A whole day might be well devoted to an
illustration of his public and private character : but you

own Times.' These things are pleasant to notice ; as they shew iis the ' capabi-
lities' of liberal minded and public spirited Bibliomaniacs, In 1593 De
Thou succeeded Amyot to the principal Librarianship of the Royal Collection ;
and had been scarcely seated two years in his velvet chair of presidentship, when
he was accessory to the restitution of the famous MS. Bible of Charles the Bald* —
which the rogues of ' religious,' at the abbey of St. Denis, were aljout to dispose
of for ' filthy lucre.' What a moment of liappiness was this to a man, with a
mind, and in a situation, like De Thou ! Meanwhile his own library ' kept
moving.' (' vires acquirit eundo,' is a good motto for the De Thous of the present
day!) We learn from the compilers of the Bibl. Thuana, 1679, 8vo. p. 6,
(re-echoed by M. de Vigneul-Marville, in his Melanges d'Histoire et de Lite-
rature, 1700, vol. i. p. 24) that our De Thou had purveyors in all countries to
secure ' large paper, or fine paper copies/ Yet Marville goes further : he not
only says that ' when any work was printed at Paris, or abroad, he took Care to
secure two or three copies upon fine or large paper, expressly for himself, and at
his own expense — but that ' he usually purchased several copies, from which he
selected the most beautiful sheets, and, from them, composed one super-eminent
COPY.' This sentence was well applied by Mr. Evans to the De Thou copy of
Monstrelet's Chroniques de France, which was sold at the sale of Col. Stanley's
library (no. 713 ) for 136/. 10s. and purchased by Sir M. M. Sykes, Bart. Over
that copy the late Reverend Cla3'ton Mordaunt Cracherode is reported to have
breathed ' the long-drawn sigh' — and once only, in his life, to have indulged
something like an inclination to break the tenth commandment. It is, beyond all
doubt, among the most resplendent instances of the mnon of fine and large
PAPER that can be mentioned. If these books had been coated in the manner
which distinguished De Thou's copy of Salvianus's History of Fishes, ^c. (Roma;,
1554, folio) which was in the collection of Mr. Edwards, {Bihl. Edwards, no. 757)
and which, almost on that account alone, produced the enormous sum of 30i. 10s.
nothing could have presumed to compete with them ! Yet the binding of the
Monstrelet, in red morocco, was rich and judicious.

The condition as well as the choice of his books were objects almost equally

* It was taken to Paris, and put into the hands of De Thou, on llie 23rd of
October, 1595, by Edmund de Velu, keeper of the archives of St. Denis. A
very particular and interesting account of the contents of it is given in the Essai
Historique sur la Bibliotheque du Roi, 1782, p. 35, note ; concluding thus : ' Ce
precieux manuscrit est sur velin, il est de forme in folio max. relie en maroquin
rouge, du tems de Henri IV. aux armes de France d'un c6t6 de la coverture,
avec la letter H couronnee empreinte en or, placee aux quatre coins, et accom-
pagnee de fleurs de lys d'or aussi couronnees ; de I'autre cdte il y a aussi la
merae lettre et les fleurs de lys d'or avec cette legende au milieu, h. iiii. Pateis
Patei^ ViRTUTUM Restitutokis.' See also vol. i, p. xxxi, note.

EIGHTH DAY.

479

will probably confine yourself to what is pithily and per-
tinently called De-TJiou-Copies of books ? . .

LisARDO. I will strictly confine myself to that point

imperative with De Thou : and even Henry Stephen and Isaac Casaubon could
not refrain from expatiating upon the beauty both of the interior and exterior of
his volumes — ' in delectu editionum (says the former in his preface to his Aldus
Gellius) Typographicarum tantum iudicij adhibes, quod quanto majore in pretio
tibi est aliquod volumen, eo pretiosiore integumento et velut induraento
ornas : ' &c. And Casaubon, writing to Franciscus Vertumienus, a celebrated
physician at Poitiers, thus pleasantly makes allusion to the magnificence of De
Thou's collection : ' I use (says he) your edition of Celsus ; concerning which I
had lately some conversation with the illustrious De Thou, when we were
together in his library^ — and when he instantly took down, from his richly
furnished book-shelves, a volume of Capellanus Arcliiatrus, and shewed it to me.'
Jacob, p. 572. Thus our De Thou ran his magnificent and enviable course till
he was taken away, from the society which adored him, in his 64th year; dying
in 1617. His son, of the same name, erected a mausoleum to his memory, with
an inscription which may be seen set forth in appropriate capitals in the
Dissertation sur les Bibliotheques, 1758, 8vo. p. 17 — together with a brief memoir
of his life and services towards the Royal Library of France. De Thou left the
whole of his library and coins, &c. with strict injunctions not to be disposed of —
' dividi, vendi, ac dissipari, veto' — are the words of his will, as selected by Jacob
in his Traicti des Bibliotheques, 1 644, 8vo. p. 566. Jacob was living when De
Thou's son, James Augustus, was in possession of his father's library in its full
equipment; and he describes it thus : ' Cette bibliotheque possede plus de 8000
volumes des plus rares et curieux, qui ont este recherchez dans I'Europe, auec
vne despence excessiue, lesquels sont tous reliez en maroquin el veau
DOREz, [the binding of his library cost De Thou, according to Bullialdus, vide
infra, 20,000 crowns] qui est encore vne autre grande sumptuosite de ce Paniasse
des Muses. Quant aux Manuscrits, il y en pcut auoir milles tous de grande
consideration, lesquels serueut iournellemet aux impressions, corame il se void
par les liures,' p. 567. The whole of Jacob's account is worth perusal.

The subsequent fate of the Library is told in a few words. Upon the death
of his son James Augustus, in 1677, it was resolved to dispose of it by public
auction ; and Du Puy and Quesnel were employed to draw up a catalogue of
the books — which appeared in the year 1679, in 2 Bvo. volumes — with a preface
containing a brief history of the collection by Bullialdus : ' mearum esse partium
duxi, (says the latter) memoriam saltern illius tam immensae, tamque exiniiae
librorum collectionis conservare, quam integram retineri non posse, omnes literati
lugent.' In this preface we are told that during the life time of Thuanus, ' his
library might be called the Asylum or Place of Refuge, of literary men — who

480

EIGHTH DAY.

only; for, as you well observe, my brave Lorenzo, the
longest Summers's day would be inadequate to render com-
plete justice to the celebrity of that extraordinary character.
Briefly then, let me remark, that whatever may be our
doubts respecting the prevalence of morocco-binding in the

seemed to flock together there as if impelled by one common bond of sympathy :
here too, it was, that its noble proprietor used to enjoy his hours of leisure,
free from domestic cares, and forensic business!' Baillet, in his Jugemens des
Savons, vol. ii. pt. 1 , p. 229, makes a great fuss about this catalogue ; perhaps
much more than it merits. Peter and James Puteanus, who were domesticated
in De Thou's house, full 30 years, had the alphabetical ' dressing' of it. Lord
Spencer has a copy upon large paper, with a title-page of the date of 1704 ;
evidently manufactured for a folio book. The preface of the Soubise Catalogue
gives us the further liistory of the Library in question.

The President de Menars purchased it en masse shortly after the publication
of the catalogue just described; and Santeuil celebrated this purchase in some
very affecting Latin verses, published on the occasion. It was afterwards bought
of the heirs of the President de Menars by Cardinal de Rohan — who incor-
porated his own library with it, and added greatly to its treasures. The author
of the Dissertation sur les Bibliotheques, 1758, 8vo. p. 54, seems to have been
well acquainted with it during the life time of the Cardinal, who died at the
Hotel de Soubise, at Paris, in 1757, aged sixty. He says the library ' was
numerous and choice, and esteemed for its beautiful bindings and excellent edi-
tions.' The Abb6 Oliva, who was librarian, made a ms. catalogue of it in 25 folio
volumes. The Prince Soubise became a lineal successor to the Rohan pro-
perty ; and on the inevitable dispersion of his library, after his death, by public
auction, in 1788, the De Thou's Copies put on wings and took flight into all parts
of the world. A plentiful flock of them reached our own shores ; and Lord Spen-
cer's bibliomaniacal nets luckily enclosed a good number of these precious book-
birds — which may be seen both in London and at Althorp. 1 incline to think that
the younger Robert Stephen and Patisson (the latter of whom married old Robert's
widow) were frequently in the habit of gossipping with De Thou in his library,
as well as of printing for, and procuring, him fine books. A ' pleasant conceited
story' is told in the Menagiana, connected therewith : ' M. de Thou rendit sa
charge dans I'intention d'etre Chancelier, ou Premier President, mais il ne put
obtenir ni I'une, ni I'autre de ces dignitez. Dans ce temps- la Robert Etienne eut
un proces centre une personne qu'il accusoit de lui avoir pris sa flflte, et le
perdit. Quelque tems apres il alia voir M. de Thou, qui le railla sur son proces
perdu, en lui disant : " Hors de Couret de Proces." Robert Etienne qui savoit
que M. de Thou avoit 6t§ refus6 dans les deux Charges qu'il avoit postulees, lui

EIGHTH DAY.

481

timfe of Grolier, in the example of De Thou we have an
unequivocal attestation of its general use : for, to the best of
my recollection, your De-Thous (to borrow the technicality
of Lorenzo) are almost always in morocco bindings ! His
favourite colour seems to have been red, while that of

repartit avec beaucoup d'esprit: " Hors de Cour et de Palais,"' voL ii. p. 97.
This at least shewed tlie intimacy between them ; but Lisardo properly doubts
whether the vei-lum copy of this- printer's edition of the Greek Test, in 1569,
(from which the fac-simile of the binding-pattern, at p. 485, is given, from the
copy in Lord Spencer's collection) was printed purposely for De Thou. Perhaps
it was only bound for him ' out of sheets.' The monograms upon his books are
usually these :

Sometimes however they represent an A between two G's— as in the Cracherode
copy of the Libanius of 1606, in the British Museum ; which has on the sides
the arms of De Thou, and those of some other person.

The arms, seen by the side of those of De Thou, in the Jirst of the above fac-
similes, at page 483, are, I conceive, those of the President de Menars. To
conclude : we may notice, that, both in the bound volumes of Grolier and De
Thou, the backs are geuerally tight, and the fly leaves are white paper, pasted
unskilfully upon the boards. Coloured interiors began, I think, with Du Sueil
or Padaloup. Let us conclude our Thuana with a fac-simile of the noble looking
AUTOGRAPH of tlic GREAT MAN whose biWiomaniacal celebrity has given rise
to them. It is taken from the fly-leaf of an uncut and even unbound copy of
Les Singvliers Et Novveavx Portraits du Seignevr Fredei-ic de Vinciolo Venitien,
<S^c. Paris, 1595, 4to. which was in the Macarthy collection.

482

EIGHTH DAY.

Grolier was olwe or hrown. Yet we have some pretty
yelloxvs, and eye-soothing olive tints, in the De Thou cover-
ings. Generally speaking, I think De Thou's books were
not so large as those of Grolier. The art of book-binding
in France was then beginning to be retrograde. Unmindful
of the examples set them by the illustrious printers and
book-binders of the earUer part of the Sixteenth Century,*
they had too frequent recourse to what our witty friend
Mercutio designates as ' the shaving art and ploughed
and sliced away as if the sight of a rough fore-edge, or an
uneven bottom margin, scared them out of their senses !
However, it cannot be denied that very many of De Thou's
larger volumes exliibit all the luxury of a prodigal margin.

* illustrious printers and book-binders of the earlier part of the sixteenth
century.'] I know not the most ancient of these ' illustrious' gentlemen who united
in themselves the double calling of printer and book-binder; but the pages of
Chevillier inform me that Eustace, Eve, and P. Le Noir, each st;yled themselves
' Relieur,' either ' de 1' Universite,' or ' du Roi.' L'Orig. de I'Imprim. de Paris;
p. 322. Jean Canivet also styled himself, in the year 1566, Religator Uni-
versitatis. And what, I demand, can be more delightful than fine copies of books,
printed by these well-known artists, in their original and stamped-calf binding?
They are the very cream of the bibliopegestic art. Yet that saucy scribbler,
Cocke Lorell, ' the most notorious knave that ever lived,' chose to putj' boke
prynters' and ' boke bynders,' into the same packet-boat with ' grote clyppers,
katche pollys, mole sekers, ratte takers, canel rakers, and smoggy colyers,' &c.

Of euery crafte some there was

Shorte or longe more or lasse

All these rehersed here before.

In Cockes bote eche man had an ore.

Cocke Lorell's Bote, 4to. Sign. C. 1. by W. de Worde.
Most lame, most impotent, and most impudent conclusion !

EIGHTH DAY.

483

In general his coat of arms appears alone, in the centre of a
side-cover : yet it is frequently seen in company with another
coat-armour, as thus :

The bindings of De Thou are not usually covered by
that species of arabesque ornaments which is the general
characteristic of those of Grolier. Sometimes, however,
when ' the worthy President ' happened to patronise, or to
take a particular fancy to, any work of splendour or merit,
there was a sufficient display, and even prodigality, of orna-
ment : and if I were asked, which, of all the books ever
seen by human eyes, was the most distinguished for the
species of binding here particularly alluded to, I should

484

EIGHTH DAY.

reply — the copy of Salvianus upon Fishes — which graced
the collection of the late Mr. Edwards.* At this moment
that gorgeous and resplendent tome is before my eyes ; and
well do I call to mind, that, when it was put up to auction,
and as it passed to and fro among the contending bidders,
it emitted rays of light like unto those which Homer
describes as streaming from the shield of Achilles !

Almansa. Such a book, methinks, should not be in the
library of a tveak-sighted collector ?

LisARDO. I can suffer no bantering upon De Thou''s
copy of Salvianus upon FisTies ! I shall here however afford
you a good opportunity of judging of the kind of taste
exhibited either by De Thou, or his Binder, when he did
betake himself to arabesques. It is from a copy of the
younger Robert StepherCs Greek Testament, upon vellum,
in the library of Earl Spencer : which exhibits very choice
vellum as to colour and condition, but of which the substance
is too thick. I make no doubt of this precious copy being
unique ; but I conceive that De Thou's age was much too
tender, at the time of its being printed, to suppose that it
was executed expressly for him. Receive now this ' pretty
bit ' as no unfavourable specimen ; and therewith take we
leave of Jaques Auguste de Thou.

* Salvianus upon Fishes — in the collection of the late Mr. Edwards."] The
article is thus described in the catalogue of the library here referred lo :
• 757 Salviani Historia Pisciumet Aquatilium Animalium, folio, plates : Large
Paper, ruled, a most beautiful copy, bound in morocco, in compartments, with
the arms of Thuanus richly gilt.' It was purchased by Mr. Clarke the bookseller,
for the Fonthill library, at SOI. 10s. .' The binding was doubtless its great attrac-
tion ; as the work, even upon large paper, is not scarce. The hands and eyes of
all surrounding spectators and cognoscenti, including even those of my friend Mr.
Douce, were lifted up in admiration as this matchless monument of the Art of
Binding was exhibited to view. One may have seen a nearly equal, but a
much superior specimen, is — ' a faultless monster which the world ne'er saw,'

EIGHTH DAY.

^85

Belinda. Thanks for your Thuana ! But has our own
Sex no claim to those honours which you have bestowed
upon the Grohers, the Maiohs, and the De Thous of the
day ? Methinks . . .

LisARDO. You are indeed right. I anticipate what you
are about to say ; and almost reproach myself for a very-
frightful omission. It is Diana of Poitiers* to whom you

* Diana of Poitiers . . . of whom I would wish to sai/ a few words in com-

486

EIGHTH DAY.

allude, and of whom I would wish to say a few words in
commendation She ought indeed to have preceded De
Thou.

mendation-l The Dictionnaire Universel, ^c. 1810, vol. xiv. p. 202-205, has made
something like the * amende honorable' for its meagre notice of Grolier, in
the comparatively copious article respecting the fair lady who is the theme of our
present discourse and of our lasting hibliomaniacal admiration. I will endeavour
to exhibit the ' multum in parvo,' in my detail of her book-passion ; although a
pretty little duodecimo, in the form of ana, might be put forth respecting both
Diana and her love of virtu. My friend Mr. D'Israeli will, I trust, take this
lady ' in hand ;' as he is infinitely better calculated to render her justice than a
grave and reverend bibliographer. Diana, Duchess of Valentinois, was
married, in her fourteenth year, to Louis de Breze, grand seneschal of Nor-
mandy : by whom she had two daughters. Breze left her a widow in 1531 ;
but it is not true, as impudently insinuated by Voltaire, that, during the life of
Francis I. she obtained the remission of the capital punishment about to be
inflicted upon her father, by the surrender of her own charms to the Frencli
monarch. Nor is there better foundation for a loose remark in the Abreg6 de la
Vie de CI. Marot, vol. i. p. 145, (prefixed to that poet's works) that in con-
sequence of some sinister allusion to a character called Luna, by Marot, the
poet was thrown into prison by the oi-ders of Diana. So easy is it to heap
scandal upon a character once tainted with impropriety of conduct'. The
Calvinists, who were generally ' good haters,' were the authors of the anecdote
respecting Marot. Diana was forty when she was the professed mistress of
Henry II. — that monarch being at the time only eighteen years of age ! She
ruled liim for twenty years with an entire ascendancy ; but it has been urged
that, although on the one hand Henry lost, in tb.e society of his accomplished
mistress, that violence and even brutality of disposition for which he was distin-
guished, yet on the other he contracted a love of expense, of shew, and extrava-
gance, which deranged his finances, and shook the credit of his government.
There is one piece of extravagance of which she was probably guilty, and from
which the most virtuous bibliomaniac will readily grant her absolution. It is the
suggestion (I verily believe it came from her) of 'having one copy of every book,
to which the royal privilege was extended, printed vpon vellum, and hand-
somely bound — to be deposited in the Royal Library. This edict was issued by
Henry in 1556, but Diana was assuredly ' at the bottom of it!' The authors of
the Essai Histoi'ique sur la Bibliotheque du Roi, p. 26, are both particular and
commendatory thereupon.

In 1552 Henry employed Philibert de Lorme to build the famous Chateau
d'Anet, for his mistress. There are several bird's eye views of this building in
the ' Plus Excellens Bastimens de France' of Androuet, 1576, folio ; and Le Noir,
in his Monumens Frangois, has exhibited specimens of some of the' furniture in the
castle : to which said castle, on the death of Heiny, in 1559, our Diana of

EIGHTH DAY.

487

Lysander. Remember. ...

LisARDo. I am not ignorant of her character. She was

BIBLIOMANIACS wholly retired till her death, in 1566. Let us here relate two
interesting anecdotes (upon the authority of Brantome) respecting our Diana —
not ' of Ephesus' but of ' Poitiers.' Just before the expiration of Henry,
Catherine de Medici (who both hated and persecuted her pretty lustily) sent to
her to surrender the crown jewels, &c. On the message being delivered — * Is
His Majesty dead?' (said she) ' No, Madam,' replied the messenger, ' but he
cannot live out the day.' ' Very well,' she rejoined : ' I am as yet under the
command of no other— and I wish my enemies to know that I sliall fear them
as little after the deatli, as I have during the life, of the monarch. If I have the
misfortune of surviving him a long time, my heart will be too much occupied
with the loss I have sustained, to make me sensible of their persecutions. I will
not deliver \)p the jewels.' Brantome saw her ' about six months' before her
death—' and even then she was so beautiful, that a heart of stone would have
softened at tlie sight of her. She had at that time broken her leg, by a fall from
her horse — ' upon which she was sitting with her wonted grace and dexterity, when
it tripped and fell with her in the streets of Orleans. Such an accident, added
to her other afflictions, seemed sufficient to alter her lovely countenance : but not
at all-^her beauty, her grace, and her fine figure were the same as ever. Pity
it is that the earth should cover so beauteous a form. She was extremely
debonnair, kind hearted, and charitable; and the French should pray to God that
they may never have a Boyal Mistress of a worse, and less beneficent,
character than Diana.' Thus narrates the gossipping Brantome, But the
Library — the Bokes — give us some account of these, exclaims the impatient
bibliomaniac ! Let us proceed then in the following order.

Diana was the contemporary, and perliaps the rival, of Grolier. When the
seeds of her book-ardour were first sown— whether ui consequence of seeing a
volume of Horns, printed in the Spanish language by Hygman for Vostre, (ex-
pressly for ' La Senn ora Ys abel de Saucto Domingo ') or a devotional volume of
the date of 1535, by Kerver's widow, with the stamped arabesque ornaments and
the name of Marie Gryiolay upon the side covers,* it is probably beyond our
power to determine : but that the garniture of her volumes was both costly and
curious, we have abundance of existing evidence to prove. The bow, the quivm-,
the mroio, and the crescent, would of necessity be the chief ornaments (in con-
formity with her name) that she would be pleased to adopt. These, with the
initial D repeated, and incorporated into an H, (as the accompanying
EMBELLISHMENTS shcw) are almost uniformly seen, not only upon the side-

* The name of « Ysabel,' with appropriate old gilt ornaments, appears on the
covers of a vohime, of the above description, in the collection of the author.
Mr. Douce possesses the other volume here mentioned. Dame Gryiolay is more
clumsy and simple in her tooling !

VOL. II. H h

488

EIGHTH DAY.

the mistress of Henry II.— but it was not her fault that she
was not his Queen ! She had many virtues to balance her

covers of her books, but upon every piece of furniture within the castle. These
ornaments are given at page 491, upon a reduced scale, from a magnificent folio
volume, entitled La dissection des parties du Corps humain, ^c. printed by Colinaeus
(perhaps tlie chef-d'oeuvre of that printer — if italic type and wood cuts be con-
sidered) in 1546. The ornaments were once silvered over, as I suspect ; but they
are now in a very deteriorated state. Mr. Heber is the fortunate owner of this
♦ Diana' relic. Mr. Douce possesses several specimens of her binding, and there
are some in the library at Hafod. Among those in the Ijbrary of Mr. Douce,
are, one of velvet, with boldly projecting brass corners, and two of brown calf ;
the latter being the usual material of her biuding. Of these two latter, one is
a Missal printed by the Calderii in 1549, 4to. presenting rather an unusual and
variously-coloured specimen of Diana's binding : from the central part of which
the following fac-simile, on a reduced scale, is taken :

EIGHTH DAY.

489

defects. If her influence over the monarch was unhmited,
that influence was exercised in the encouragement of the

Mr. Douce also possesses a beautiful copy of ' The Prymer in Englysshe and in
Latin sette out alonge : afttr the vse of Sarum,' printed by Florent Valentine, at
Rouen, in 1556, 12mo. which was in the library of Henry and Diana; having
the joint arms or insignia of these characters, without the initials, on the sides.
(Did Diana pray in the English or Latin tongue?) A similar embellishment
should seem to adorn a MS. of Oppian in the royal library of France, as described
by Jansen, in a note, vol. ii. p. 95, of liis Essai sur la Graviire. We will say a
few words only about her medal. The specimen placed by Lisardo before his
auditory is from an engraving, by Freeman, from the original medal, upon copper,
of the same dimensions, in the richly furnished cabinet of Mr. Douce.* The
condition of it is perfect. On the reverse is a small upright whole length
figure of the goddess resting upon her bow, and placing her foot upon u prostrate
Cupid. The surrounduig and significant motto (upon which Vigneul-Marvilk is
pleased to hold a pompous discourse in his Melanges de Literature, ^c. vol. iii.
p. 329, edit. 1725) is thus : omnivm victorem . vici . I will not pre-
sume to criticise that countenance (above faithfully given) which has received
the warm eulogies of Biantome : but I have no doubt, from its individuality of
appearance, that it exhibits a correct likeness. In the last place, as to the fate
of Diana's Library. It appears (as pointed out to me by Mr. Douce) from a
passage in the Cat. de la Valliere, vol. i. p. 31, that the library in question was
sold by auction in 1724 ; and that a Mons. de Sardiere bought a MS. of ' Les
liures hystoriaulz de la Bible,' which had been formerly in the collection of that
' tremendous bibliomaniac' (see vol. i. p. cxxxiv) the Duke de Berry — towards
the opening of the xvth century. In short, it had the Duke's autograph — ' ce
Prince se plaisoit a ecrire sur les livres qu'il acqu6roit son nom et ses titres
says Mons. Van Praet — in the page just referred to. This MS. was sold for
900 livres. Of the catalogue of Diana's books, and of the amount of the sale of
the library, it is out of my power to say a word. Indeed it is high time to be
silent.

* The readiness and kindness with which this Gentleman and well-versed
Antiquary is pleased to lend his treasures (and who possesses greater of their
kind ?) for the accommodation of his friends, need not any distinct or formal
eulogy on my part : but I may be allowed to disport myself in a passage of
Naude's ' Advis pour dresser vne Bihliotheque,' 1644, 8vo. p. 100, as not wholly
inapplicable on the occasion — ' a la verite ie tiens pour maxime que toute
persorme courtoise et de bon naturel doit tousiours seconder les intentions louable
de ses amis, pourueu qu'elles ne preiudicient point aux siennes. De sorte que
celuy qui a des liures, medailles, ou peintures . . . ne fera point de difficult^ d'en
accomoder celuy de ses amis qu'il cognoistra les desirer et en estre curieux.' The
example of Mr. Douce is a better commentary upon this text than perhaps was
the one in the eye of the author. And yet Mr. Douce rejoices to find himself hi
company with numerous other bibliomaniacs, of equal calibre and equal ' good
nature,' upon the subject of which we are discoursing!

490

EIGHTH DAY.

fine arts, and in softening the ferocious temper of her
Royal Paramour. Her love of books and of pictures was
unbounded ; and in her favorite retreat at Anet she erected
a Library, of which the specimens that remain— and more
particularly those of her BiNDiNGs—give us a tolerably
correct notion of what must have been its pristine splendour.
Her popularity was extreme ; and the French acknowledge
her as the first Royal Mistress in honour of whom a medal
was struck. You have here a copy of that medal ; which,
although the countenance may not be considered perfectly
celestial, you must nevertheless, as graphic Virtuosi, receive
with thankfulness ; for its rarity is extreme.

See here !— as an agreeable accompaniment I have pro-
cured a fine specimen of one of the varieties of Diana's
Binding-Patter7is ;* in which you will not fail to observe how
dexterously she has contrived to interweave her initials with
those of her royal lover, as well as to introduce the insignia

* See the Opposite Cut.

492

EIGHTH DAY,

of the heathen goddess whose name she bore. It were a
fruitless effort, I fear, to set about collecting even a score of
the volumes which were once in the Chateau d Anet. Our
friend Mercutio once indulged the fallacious hope of
obtaining a nearly complete Diana Library ; but he gave
up the chase ere he had well set out !

I must now conclude these Anecdotes (if we may so call
them) of Continental Collectors— whose books were distin-
guished for curious or beautiful bindings— by a merely brief
and rapid mention of the names of Colbert and Hoym, of
Gaignat, La Valliere, and Lamoignon : premising that, long
before the appearance of even the first of these great biblio-
maniacal characters, the libraries of Italy, France, and Ger-
many abounded with magnificent and exquisite specimens of
the bibliopegistic art * Yet France, during the Seventeenth
Century^ seemed to be especially noticed for the skill of its
Bookbinders, who were sent to most parts of Europe ; and
who are yet rather familiar to us in the names of Padaloup,

* the Libraries of Italy, ^-c. abounded with magnificent specimens of the biblio-
pegistic art.l Read the very animated accounts of the public and private libraries
at Rome, towards the end of the sixteenth century, by Angelas Roccha, in his
Appendix to the Bibl. Apostolica Vaticana, 1599, 4to. from p. 383 to 404 : and
note, in particular, how fine a figure the library of Cardinal Lancellot makes :
' Celebris tuni ob librorum copiam (sunt enim ad septem millia volumina) turn
etiam ob PERPULcnnAM codicum compaginem, ordinem mirificum, et magni-
ficum ornatum : quibus rebus nobilissiraa iudicatur.' Nor was Cardinal Bonelli's
library in less gaiety of attire : ' ditissimis librorum compagibus insigiiis.'
But what was the condition of these books compared with those of their Roman
predecessors— about the time of the Christian era? Read Schwarz (Disjj. III.
Be Ornamentis Libror. Vet, p. 166-7) who absolutely overflows with a luxuriancy
of description thereupon — ♦ codices conspici — niodo corio rubro et luteo, modo
corio viridi, modo purpura, modo argento, modo auro, tectos.' Will the work-
shops of Messrs. Hering and Lewis match these bibliopegistic gems ? Look also
into Lackman's Annal. Typog. Select. Quied. Cap. 1740, 4to. p. 5— and anticipate
a very pleasing paragraph or two under the following title : ' Vnde ornamenta
librorum post inuentam artem Typographicam ?'

EIGHTH DAY.

493

and Du Sueil and De Rome. Far be it from me to
depreciate the reputation so long maintained, and so boldly
avowed, by our Gallic neighbours ;* while the annals of

* the reputation so long maintained, and so boldy avowed, by our Gallic neigh-
bours.^ As a sort of natural adjunct to the preceding note — and before we dis-
course of the French Binders in the seventeenth century — let us say a word
or two about the more celebrated Libraries in France during the same
period. The theme is equally pleasing and fruitful ; yet why are we compelled
to have recourse to the scanty notices only of Naude, Jacob, and Galiois, &c.
However, scanty as these are, they are yet interesting — and let us be thankful
for what has reached us. The two great bibliographers of the age of which we
are discoursing, were .Terome Bignon* and Gabriel Naude': the former
librarian to the King, the latter to Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal's library
was next to the Royal Collection in extent and magnificence. Jacob says it
was open every Thursday, ' from morn till night, for the accommodation of the
public, and to the satisfaction of the learned in particular.' In his time ' there
were about 400 MSS. in folio, bound in virgin morocco [♦ moroquin incarnat']
and covered with borders of gold,' p. 487, &c. There's for you, bibliopegistic
enthusiast! This noble collection was much dissipated during the civil wars.
The King's library got possession of many volumes, and the rest were deposited
in the ' College des quatre Nations.' Galiois says, in his time ' there were more
than 6000 volumes of Protestant authors,' p. 150. He computes the original
number of the entire collection at more than 50,000 volumes; of which the fine
collection of Descordes formed the basis. The author of the ' Dissertation sur les
Bibliotheques, 1758, p. 45, computes the original number at 40,000 — and says,
' at that time it contained 37,000 — without MSS. which were lodged in the royal
collection.' It was then open on Mondays and Thursdays. But the Cardinal
had also a magnificent library at Rome. He was indeed a very Coevinus in
his way.

May I here be permitted to ask who was that mysterious and book-prying old
gentleman (something like our H. Dyson, in the Bibliomania, p. 398) designated
by Naude, under the name of ' Monsieur le F.' The passage is worth extracting :
' en effect ie puis dire auec verit6, que pendant I'espace de deux ou trois ans

* There is an interesting account of Bignon (who I conceive was a much
cleverer man than Naud6) in the Dissertation sur les Bibliotheques, p. 26, ike.
Richelieu, who hated him heartily, could not help making liim Royal Librarian.
The voice of the public irresistibly guided the determination of the minister.
Bignon was as thoroughly disinterested as he was philological and bibliogra-
phical. He refused to be Superintendant of the Finances, and had a terrible
aversion to having his portrait taken. Lochon however made a sly drawing of
him, while he was haranguing in the great Chamber, and wrote beneath it — ' R.
Lochon,ad vivumfurtim delineavit !' Pardonable rogue — and guilty only of petty
larceny !

494

EIGHTH DAY.

our own country exhibit scarcely anything which may be
put in competition with the ' handy works ' of the fore-
mentioned artists. But while I am free to confess my

que i'ay eu I'honneur de me rencontrer auec Monsieur de F. chez les Libraires,
ie luy ay veu souuent acheter de si vieux liures et si real couuerts et imprimez,
qu'ils me faisoient sousrire et esmerueiller tout ensemble, iusques a ce que prenant
la peine de me dire le sujet et les circonstances pour lesquelles il les aclietoit,
ses causes et raisons me sembloient si pertinentes, que ie ne seray iamais diuerti
de croire qu'il est plus verse en la coignoissance des liures, et qu'il en parle auec
plus d'experience et de iugement qu'homme qui soit non seulement en France,
mais en tout le reste du monde.' Advis, <fc. p. 25. (I presume the same passage
to be in tiie previous edition of 1637.) This could not have been M. Claude
Fauchet, President de la Cour des Monnoyes ? See Jacob, p. 552. Whoever he
was, Naude, I dare thinlc, contrived to get ' as mucli out of him' as it vfus pos-
sible for him to do. But have we not at present existing, between Whitechapel
and Hyde Park Corner, at least three of such boke-loviiig Messieurs ? I trow so.

The name of Harlay was doomed to adorn the annals of Biblionianiacism in
France as well as in England. From the time of Jacob (p. 514) to that of the
author of the Dissertation, <^c. (p. 51) it shone sufficiently conspicuous ; till in 1716
the Harlaian Collection became merged in that of one of the Colleges of Jesuits —
swelling it to the number of 50,000 volumes. J. Baptiste IIautin, who died
in 1640, left a library behind him of 10,000 volumes: afterwards divided into
three collections. The name of Longueil does immortal honour to the cause of
Bibliomania in France. The President Longueil, in Jacob's time, could not only
boast of noble blood, but of an admirable collection of books, which he was
increasing every day, and the library of Nicolas Chevalier formed the basement
and first stories — ' cette Bibliotheque (says Jacob, p. 529) est I'vne des plus
excellentes de Paris pour la reliure, qui est toute en veau parsemee de fleurs
de Lys, et doree sur la tranche!' (These are the genuine ' ardentia verba' of a
' true son' of bibliography — but hear further) ' II y a aussi quelques manuscrits
bien rares, couuerts de velours, et qui seroieut bien vtiles pour le public, et
particuliereraent pour les anciennes families de noblesse.' I have seen some half
score specimens of this ' fleurs de lis' sprinkled calf binding of the Longeuils.
Marescot, a privy counsellor in 1640, had ' a rich and fine library of more
than 6000 volumes appertaining chiefly to French and European history.'
Marescot, in his youth, had extended his knowledge arfd improved his taste by
travelling into Spain, Italy, and Germany, where he discovered an insatiable
appetite for books; and where, in his riper years, he continued to gratify the
same appetite by a vastly enlarged biblioraaniacal knowledge — which said
appetite, when he died, in his 80th year, was by no means satiated ! What
a helluo librorum, therefore, was Guillaume Marescot, Conseiller du Roy en ses
Conseils et Maitre des Requestes ! ! !

EIGHTH DAY.

495

admiration of French gilding, whether displayed in the
fore-edges or the sides ; while I am equally disposed to
admit the strength and neatness of the generality of the

But could Jacob omit Ci-AUDE D'Urfe' ? By no means: for, at page 671,
he tells us how ' the Castle of Abbatie was situated iu a forest belonging to the
illustrious family of Yrfe,' from which our Claude came — who was tutor to
Henry lid's children ; and whose chateau might have vied with that of Diana
OF PoiCTiERS for bibliomaniacal splendour; ' for he fitted up a rich and
splendid library in that castle, where were more than 4600 volumes ; and among
which were 200 MSS. upon vellum, covered w^th green velvet!' The
Marquis d'Urfe was living in the said castle when Jacob wrote his book.

Guy Patin had about 6000 volumes in Jacob's time. Concerning this
famous character, read Vignenl-Marville's Melanges d'Histoire et de la Literature,
vol. ii. p. 25, ed. 1700. The Du Puts were extremely distinguished for their
fine collection (including many old MSS.) of about 8000 volumes : see Jaeob,
p. .558 ; Gallois, p. 155. Yet Jacques Ribier seems to have beaten the Dn
Puys. He had nearly 10,000 volumes ; and many of them exquisitely rare and
precious. Cardinal Seve had his 6000 sprucely garnished tomes ; while the
libraries of Huet, Colbert, Tellier, and Seguier, shed such a lustre upon
the close of the seventeeth, and the opening of the eighteenth^ century as to
leave scarcely any thing further to be described. The Duke de la Valliere, a
little beyond the middle of the latter century, had already 20,000 volumes ; and
Paris, at that period, might be justly called, in the language of the author of the
Dissertation, <^c. (1758, p. 55) ' une autre Athenes. So much (little enough,
perhaps, * in all conscience ! ') for a sketch of a few of the more ancient princi-
pal Libraries in France — of which it is just possible that the reader may not have
had any distinct previous information. From the reputation of the French Book-
Collector, we proceed to that of the French Bookbinder.

It has been observed that Cardinal Mazarin had also a Library in his palace
upon the Quirinal hill at Rome. That library was composed of 5000 volumes
* well selected, and bound by artists who came express from Paris.' Yet
further: these books were ' conservez dans des armoires tr^llssez de fil dore, cize-
16es et dorees a surface, auec des vases, bustes et autres antiques sur le haut
d'icelle!' Jacob, p. 95. I know not how Naude could vent his spleen (Advis,
^c. p. 103) against fine binding, when his master, the Cardinal, possessed
such prodigal specimens of its voluptuousness. Naude has even the fool-hardiness
to avow that ' il est bien plus vtile et necessaire d'auoir, par example, grade
quantite de liures fort bien reliez a I'ordinaire, que d'en auoir seulement plein
quelque petite chambre ou cabinet de lauez, dorez, reglez, [the old favourite
system with Messieurs Les Francois !] et enrichis auec toute sorte de mignardise,
de luxe et de superfluity.' If he had been the Cardinal, he would not have
uttered this heresy. But what says Michel de Marolles upon the subject of old
French binding? Let us hear with what complacency he dwells upon his

^96

EIGHTH DAY.

Parisian workmansliip—I must be allowed to enter my
protest against the prevailing Taste of Messieurs Les
Relieurs Parisiens ...
LoEENzo. Wherefore.? This strikes me as a little heretical.

meritorious countrj'men. ' Les relieures de nos livres sont estimees par dessus
toutes les autres : et nous en avons qui a peu de frais, font ressenibler le par-
chemin a de veau, y melant des filets d'or sur le dos, qui est une invention que
Ton doit a im Relieur de Paris, appelle Pierre Galliard, comme celle de
parcherain vert naissant est venu de Pierre Portier, qui de son temps a est6
un autre excellent Relieur.' M^moires de Michel de Marolles, AhM de Villeloin.
Contenant ce qu'il a vii depJus remarquable en sa vie, depuis l'ann6e 1600. Paris,
1656, folio.

Lisardohas expressly mentioned by n.qnie the well known bibliopegistic artists,
hight Padaloup, Du Sueil, and De Rome. I cannot pretend to identify the
first two of them ; but Padaloup was fond of red morocco outsides and insides,
with a fillet or border of gold upon each. His fly leaf was frequently of gold. The
Abbe Du Sueil (to whose popularity Pope has contributed by a slight mention of
him in his Moral Essays, ep. iv.) was fond of a variety of colours upon his morocco
outsides ; and my friend Mr. Utterson possesses a pleasing specimen of this inter-
laced morocco livery, in a copy of the Regent's Edition of Daphnis et Chloe,
1718, 12mo. But perhaps the finest, as well as the most numerous specimens of Du
Sueil's bhiding, were contained in the collection of Louis Henry Lomenie, Count of
Brienne— which was ' to be sold very cheap (the price marked in each book) at
James Woodman's and David Lyon's shop in Russell-Street, Covent-Garden, on
Tuesday the 28th day of April, 1724.' This library was as select (it had been
' chiefly collected by the famous Father Simon, the best critic in books in his
time') as it was magnificent : the advertisement telling us that ' several hundreds
of the books had been new covered in morocco by Monsieur L'Abb6 Du Sueil.'
Accordingly, we read perpetually ' corio turcica compactum per Ahhatem de Sueil ;'
or ' relid en maroquin par l'Abh6 du Sueil or ' bound by the Abbe du Sueil, gilt,
and marbled on the leaves ;' or ' nicely covered in morocco by the Abbe du Sueil,'
(no. 224.) This was a very favourite catalogue with the late Bishop of Ely;
The library was indeed worthy of the family by whom it had been collected.
' Inter alia,' read as follows, lover of Ashraole and of Hollar :— it is upon a copy of
Ashmole's Order of the Garter (no. 107) that Messrs. Woodman and Lyon thus expa-
tiate : ' great paper, with all the figures, arms, and habits finely illuminated in their
proper colours, very necessary Jbr the intelligence of the history. This copy was a
present from the Author to a Nobleman, and is, we believe, the only one that ever
was illuminated ! ! 1 ' 1 wish it were now the property of a nobleman — and that it
were ' elbowing,' but not rudely or ungraciously, the illuminated copy of Hasted's
Kent, within seven miles of the town of Northampton !
We come now to the mention of that bibliopegistic wight, ycleped De Rome j

EIGHTH DAY.

497

LisARDO. By no means. But I should rather have
added, of the modern prevaihng taste — though, in too many-
instances my ' bile has been moved' by those perpetually
occurring adjuncts of lav^ et regie of the Messieurs now

for whom I frankly' confess that a ' rod has been preserved in pickle,' within
three feet of my writing desk, for the last three years. In the First Day of
■this Decameron (see pages clxxviii, ccxiv,) the reader has been somewhat prepared
for this ' flogging.' De Rome was, like all his predecessors of the eighteenth
century, a great cropper ; for cropping was 'the watchword and reply' of the
French school of binding, including all the illustrious artists just mentioned.
A considerable number of De Rome's performances appear in the Macarthy
collection : a melancholy specimen of it graced (or rather disgraced) the Soubise
Library' — for know, tasteful reader, that De Thou's own copy of Froissard, upon
VELLUM, printed by Eustace in 1514, had been stript of its ancient covering,
and put into a red morocco suit — of which De Rome was the clumsy tailor!
This very copy I sighed over, ' ex imo corde,' in the library of the late Mr.
Johnes at Hafod. After the first sin of cropping, was the second of choaking —
exhibited by the elder brethren of the art of book-binding at Paris! . . and wliat
additional torture, I demand, could be inflicted upon a suffering volume ? I know
not who was the usual binder of Count Hovm's books — but I suspect either
that the Count, or his bindei-, was fond of a smooth fm-e-etlge ! Greater heresy
can scarcely be conceived. Mr. Douce possesses the most beautiful specimen of
binding, from Count Hoym's collection, which I remember to have seen. It is a
copy of the French Bible of 1621, 3 vol. folio, which had been formerly in the
Colbert collection, and which was ' newly covered ' (I borrow the select phra-
seology of Messrs. Woodman and Lyon) by the Count : ' exemplar elegantissime
exterius deauratum,' is the adjunct in the Bibl. Hoym. no. 136. I admit the
delicacy, truth, and brilliancy of its multitudinous circular ornaments, (like lace-
work, manufactured by fairies, when the chaste orb of night is ' riding near her
highest noon') yet ... ' why so captious, gentle Master Rosicrusius.'' exclaims
the generous hearted reader ! I reply, but ' quaere the avipler dimensions of the
copy,' tempore Colberti ?' There is so much of the ' smoothly shaven green' about
it, that I own I am a little sceptical thereupon. Yet most heartily do I congratu-
late its present friendly possessor ; upon finding, when it had afterwards gone into
the La MOTGNON Collection, that this very beautiful tooling has not, in turn, been
disposed of— for a substitute at once hideous and tasteless ! For surely, surely, of
all tasteless and terrific styles of binding, what equalleth the relieure a la
Lamoignon? Mr. Payne, I know full well, will scold prodigiously about this
saucy attack upon the bibliopegistic reputation of his beloved Lamoignon — for
he bought the collection, so called, ' en masse,' and did not keep his carriage in
consequence ! Yet he will find the father-in-law of Lamoignon, Mons. le Berryer,
treated in a sufficiently civil manner in the Bibliomania, p. 687-8.

498

EIGHTH DAY.

alluded to. Their linings and interior decorations generally
were, and yet are, gaudy in the extreme. The taste of
Grolier, of Maioli, and De Thou, has not been revived in
France during the last century ; and Bozerain-Jeune in
vain struggles to snatch the bibliopegistic wreath from the
brows of Lewis.* Yet I hate comparisons— especially of
living persons : for it is hke treading upon concealed gun-
powder. Upon the whole, the share which France has had
in the perfection and promotion of the Art of Book Bind-
ing is extremely creditable to her reputation : while, till
within the last century, it must 'be allowed that we exhi-
bited scarcely anything worthy of calling our own. Yet we
have in some measure atoned for our former barbarity by

* Bozerain-Jeune — fo snatch the bibliopegistic wreath from the brows of
Lewis.] ' Bozeiiain-Jeune' is the present fashionable book-binrler at Paris;
and the bibliomaniacal Parisians ' font grand cas,' or ' make a great crack,'
about his productions. These productions are also well known in a certain city
ycleped London. They are full of faults ; l,ut let Mons. Bozerain-Jeune take
courage, as lie has great ' capabilities' of improvement. His books are forwarded
too expeditiously and loo unmercifully. He beats them to death. But my great
quarrel with him is, his too vehement love of finery, of satinising, of red-ruling,
and of gorgeous and flaunting ornaments. Lord Spencer possesses two of his
bibliopegistic chef-d'oeuvres ; which are the Sweynlieym and Pannartz Po/i/fci«s
of 1473, folio, and Mr. Renouard's Proverbs of Cornazano, 8vo. (see Bibl.
Spencer, vol. ii. p. 282, and p. 350, ante): but by the side of similar volumes,
from the tools of Roger Payne, or Charles Lewis, they ' droop their withered
heads.' Mons. Bozerain Jeune is also unfortunate in his choice of tnorocco.
which is almost uniformly of a smooth and feeble surface: wliereas it ought to
be rough, vigorous, and substantial. Above all things let not the e.xam-
ple of Monsieur Berryer, the father-in-law of Lamoignon, harden him into
an inflexible attachment towards satin linings. They are gaudy aTid garish :
but silk water-tabby may be sometimes exquisitely managed— especially in minor
volumes. The red-ruling of this popular Parisian binder— in a colour more
especially which melts into purple— is a sad anrl vicious ornament ; as was seen
in the beautiful Jenson's Ccesar of 1471, and Aldine Pausanias of 1516, from the
Macarthy collection : two books, which, otherwise, ' left nothing to he desired.'
However, if Monsieur Bozerain-Jeune hath yet much to learn, he has the
ability of becoming a very accomplished scholar in the school of Phillatius.

EIGHTH DAY.

499

the present unrivalled efforts of our workmen in the same
art.

Lysander. You are coming, I trust, to the notice of the
moderns. But have you nothing connected with the anti-
quity of binding in this country, during the sixteenth cen-
tury, when the great French collectors cut such conspicuous
figures ? , . .

LisARDO. Nothing deserving of particular notice. WAat
sort of binding Lady Jane Grey or Mary Queen of Scots^

* Lady Jane Grey or Mahy Queen of Scots.] These amiable and
illustrious characters seem to be rather ' lugged in neck and shoulders ' (a rude
maimer, by the hye, of treating ladies of distinction) by the enthusiastic IJsardo.
Of the style of the binding of their books, it is out of niy power to say any-tliing :
whether it were English worsted or tambour work — (see an account of the volume
of Horse in our Queen Mary's library, in vol. i. p. xcix, bound in the latter attire)
or vellum, velvet, brocade, or fish skin. But the researches of an excellent anti-
quary and lover of bibliography, Mr. Thomson, of the Record-office of Edinburgh,
have supplied me with a piece of bibliopegistic information, respecting the charges
of a Scotch Book Binder, of the date of 1580, which may probably be considered
rather an interesting morceau of its kind. The whole is too long for admission
here ; but a part is well deserving of challenging the attention of the curious.
Note : the charges are made in Scotish Money.

JoHNNE GiBSONis huikbinders prtcept, 171. 4s. 4d. October 1580.

Dictionariu i latino graeco et gallico sermone, 4to. gylt pryce . xxs.

Harmonia Stanhursti fo. i velene pryce . . . . xs.

Loci comunes manlij, 8vo. gj/it pj-t/ce . . . . xs.

Opera Clemenlis Alexandrinj, 8vo. gylt pryce . . . xs.

Aulicus Casteilionis, 8vo, gylt pryce ... . xs.

Eides Jesu et Jesuitarii, 8vo. In velene pryce . . .vs.

Confessio valdasiu, 8vo. gylt pryce . . « . xs.

C5ciones nuptiales, 8vo. gylt pryce . . . . xs.

Lapis raetaphysicus, 8vo. In purchement . . . iijs.

Memorabilia Mizaldi, 8vo. In velene . . . .vs.

Philosophicae cosolationes, 8vo. In parchemit pryce . . iijs.

Cardanius de genitura, 8vo. In velene . . . .vs.

Thesaurus pauperu, Svo- In velene .... vs.

Aratius de fetu humano, 8vo. In parchemit . . . iijs.

Apologia pro germanicis ecclesiis, 8vo. In parchemet . . iijs.

Pulicis encomiii, 8vo. in parchemet .... iijs.

500

EIGHTH DAY.

used (for these ladies were eminently distinguished for their
book-collecting passion). ...

Almaksa. I rejoice to hear this : and do pray indulge
me, great Monarch of the day, with a sight of one of their
authenticated book-covers. A scrap — a relic ! . . .

LisARDO. I have absolutely nothing of the kind. Let
fancy therefore supply the place of reality : and let us rush
at once upon a brief history of the Art of Book Binding in
England during the Eighteenth Century; for during the
Seventeenth, I can only observe that a sort of dark calf, with

Orationes claroru viroru, 16mo. gylt pryce . . . xs.

Liuius de vita petri et pauli, 8vo. In parchemit . . . iijs.

Bezse de notis ecclesiae, 8vo. In parchement . . . iijs.

Predictiones memorabiles, 8vo. In parchemit . . iijs.

Isagoge palladij, 8vo. In parchement . • . . iijs.

Coteplationes Idiotae, 16mo, ... . iis.

Gildae epistola, 8vo. In parchement .... iijs.

Aueuch is ane feist, 4to. ... . xijd.

Lustie Juuetus [Qu : what edition of this rare dramatic gem ?] • xiji.

The signature of J. Browg is subjoined. Sma of yis compt is

xviji iiijs. iiijd.

Rex. Thesaurare we greit zow weill. It is our will and we charge zow that ze
Incontinent after the syt heirof ansr or luuit Johnne gipsoun buikbindar of the
soivme of sevintene punde iiijs. iiijd, within metionat Tohe thankefulUe allowit to
zow in zor comptis keping this o^ precept together wt the said Johnne his acquittdce
yrvpounfor zor warrdd Subscryuit wt o^ hand At Halyruidhous the first day of
October 1580.

James R.

R. Dunfermling A Cambuskenneth.

I Johnne Gibsoun be the tennor heirof grant me to haue ressauit fra Robert
toluill of cleishe in name of my lord thesaurar the sowme of sevintene punde
iiijs. iiijd. conforme to 3'is corapt and precept within writtin oif ye qlk sowme I
bald me weill qtent & payit and dischai-ge him hereof for euir Be thir pute
subscryuit with my hand At Edr the xv day ofnouember 1580

Johnegybsone wt ray hand

EIGHTH DAY.

501

thickly studded gilt ornaments on the back, seemed almost
uniformly to prevail. I well know that they were fond
of heating their books, a la mode Jrangoise, throughout
the whole of the same century ; for to the best of my recol-
lection, one of their popular poets hath invoked his muse
upon this express subject.* But it is from the letters of

* invoked his muse upon this express subject.'^ Tis the Cotswold Muse to
which Lisardo makes allusion : for thus warbleth that Darae in a certain
duodecimo volume, entitled ' Nympba Lihethris ; or the Cotswold Muse, Present-
ing some extempore verses to the Imitation ofyong Scholars. In four Parts. London,
Printed for F. A. at Worcester. 1651, 12mo.

LVI. To THE Book-binder.
Has my Muse made a fault? Friend, I entreat,
Before you bind her up, you wou'd her beat.
Though She 's not loose and wanton, I can tell,
Unlesse you beat her, you'l ne'r bind her well. p. 95.

The author of this precious quatrain was Clement Barksdale : who, by the bye,
I suspect of having had rather a dash of the book-mania about him ; for he thus
addressetli a certain ' D. Charlton :*

To my Brother D. Charlton.
T'other hard work have Elzivirs the Lei
Den printers finisht, De Lithiasi
Or have they fail'd? Then let the book's disease
Frequent with writers, on the printers cease.

What to the pious father death did give,

Will make the son, amongst best authors, live. p. 95.

A little before his address to the Bookbinder, he is pleased to disport himself
in the following manner with his Printer.

LV. To THE Printer.
Did I effuse a little more of brine
On m' Epigrams, in such and such a line ;
Or could I wife, as well as you can Print,*
Unless there be a fatal disaster in't,
(Although my Thiian t were not of quick sale)
The Muse will roundly off like Cotswaldj^ Ale.

* Which is badly and incorrectly enough : especially the Latin,
t Qu, An edition of Thuanus ^ | For Cotswold Ale.

602

EIGHTH DAY

that fine old episcopal bibliomaniac, Bishop Cosin, (of
whom I hope to hear something from Lysander in our
Tenth Day) that we gather perhaps the best account of
the style of binding which generally prevailed before the
reign of ' good Queen Anne.'*

Praj, tell the Bookseller, if he will see 't,
Th' Epigram, though not very salt, is sweet.
No ohscene lests, no jeeres fall from my Pen :
But it delights in praise of Boohs and Men.

Barksdale's Musa Libethris is a volume of considerable rarity and not incon-
siderable dulness; and it brings to n)y recollection a' merrie conceited iest'
appertaining thereto — worthy perhaps of occupying about thirteen seconds only
of the reader's attention. It was in the midst of a storm of thunder and light-
ning, on a Saturday evening at Cheltenham, (at Mr. Henley's) within about half
an hour of my arrival there, that (a poet would say ' guided by the flash ') I
picked up a copy of the Cotswold Muse, marked at 12s. : which, after an atten-
tive perusal, and making certain extracts tlierefrom, was disposed of, amongst
other books, by public auction at Mr Evans's, for the sum of — (' Gently touch
the warbling lyre ') Four Pounds, sixteen Shillings ! ! * I will not name the
purchaser; since no man has it in his power of giving greater publicity to his
own name, and valorous bibliomaniacal exploits. But what a far more ' merrie
conceited iest ' might be told respecting the disposal (at the same time, and by
the same book-auctioneer) of the First Edition of Drunken Barnaby? —
which, rather to the northward, (northward for • Nosegays,' hut ' Westward for
Smelts !' says that colossal bibhomaniac, Atticus) was picked up by me ' in Feurier
\the colde Seson' — in the j'ear of our Lord 1815 ! ' Hear it not, Burnham, 'tis a
knell .'. . A truce to enigma and mystery : and let the curious reader be informed
that my friend Sir Egerton Brydges put forth, in the most elegant manner
possible, from his Lea Priory Press, a reprint of the Cotswold Muse, in 1816, in
a duodecimo form, of which only 60 copies were printed. This is, to borrow the
learned language of the Herald's college, ' all propper.'

* style of binding before the reign of ' good Queen Anne.'] Lisardo is perfectly
correct in his designation of Bishop Cosin— who was, in truth, the very giant
of epifjcapal bibliomaiiiacism : and to whom the reader shall not fail to be intro-
duced by Lysander (as above intimated) in the Tenth Day of this Decameron.
Mr. Surtees, in his princely folio tome entitled the History and Antiquities of the
County Palatine of Durham, 1816, pt. i. p. cix, cx, informs us how this said

* A copy of the same edition is marked in the Anglo-Poetica of Messrs.
Longman and Co. 1815, 8vo. no. 83, at 20i.! This is the • vires acquirit eundo'
with a vengeance !

EIGHTH DAY.

503

The commencement of the Eighteenth Century saw the
rise and progress of the rival Hbraries of Harley and
Sunderland. What a field therefore was here for the

bibliomaniacal Bishop ' frequently enters, con amore, into all the minutiae of
binding, lettering, and the disposition of the shelves and presses.' Moreover,
continues Mr. Surtees, ' there is scarcely a letter of the Bishop's in which he
does not urge the purchasing of books,' &c. But our present business is the
CosiNiAN style of Bmding. Here follow, gentle reader, a few extracts from
the original letters (furnished me by the county historian aforesaid) not wholly
divested of interest respecting the momentous subject of this the Eighth Day of
our Decameron. From a collection, of which the owner expressly and repeatedly
enjoins that ' the bookes should be all rubbed once a fortnight before the fire to pre-
vent moulding,' (Oct. 18, 1670) what might not be expected as to condition!?
For ornament, or pattern, read thus :

To the right Revd. Ffather in God lohn Ld. Bp. of Durham.
For one booke of Acts bd. in white lether . 0 2 6

For binding the Bible & Comon Prayer, and "l
double gilding and other trouble in fitting them J ^ 0 0
Pd. for ruleing the Comon Prayer . . 0 8 0

The totall 3 10 6

However extravagant the reader may conceive the charge of 3/. to have been, a
century and a half ago, for the binding of a Bible and Common Prayer, he will
be yet more startled from the following specimen of the Bishop's voluptuous taste
in the bibliopegistic art, which occurs in an inventory ' of books, plate, and
ornaments for the service of the altar:' see Surtees, p. cix. 'Received the
31 January, 1662, of the Right Reverend Father in God, John, Lord Bishop of
Durham, by the hands ofMyles Stapylton, the summe of one hundred pounds, being
IN PART of payment for the plate and workmanship of the covers of a Bible and
Common Praier booke. I say received by me MS. Houser, Goldsmith, 100/.'
Again : in a letter from Mr. Arden to Myles Stapylton, the Bishop's secretary,
of the date of Dec. 8, 1662, the former observes : ' My Lord desires you to
bespeake black leather cases lined with green for the silver and gilt bookes for the
Countess of Clarendon, to carrie and keepe them in ; an ordinary box or any
other way will serve to carrie those to my Lord Chancellor,' Thus our Bishop
was more courteous to my Lady than my Lord ! Once more : and admirably
characteristic of its noble, amiable, and yet somewhat fidgetty author. It is from
a letter of the Bishop's, of the date of 1 671, to his secretary Stapylton. ' You
spend a greate deale of time and many letters about Hugh Hutchinson, and the
armes he is to set upon my bookes. Where the backs are all gilded over, there must
bee of necessity a piece of crimson leather set on to receive the stamp, and upon
all paper and parchment books besides. The like course must be taken with
VOL. II. I i

504

EIGHTH DAY.

display of the bibliopegistic art ! What a harvest for the
bookbinders ! Harley usually preferred red-morocco, with a
broad border of gold, and the fore-edges of the leaves
without colour or gilt. In this latter respect he was deci-
dedly wrong ; as gilt forms an adamantine shield of protec-
tion. Generally speaking, the Harleian volumes are most
respectably bound;* but they have little variety, and the
style of art which they generally exhibit rather belongs to
works of devotion.

such bookes as are rude and greasy and not apt to receive the stamp. The impres-
sion will be taken the better if Hutcliinson shaves the kather thinner.' Now
whether Hutchinson was a good or a bad ' shaver,' it remains, I believe, yet to be
ascertained; but that my Lord Bishop of Durham, hight John Cosin, was a
' fine oid Episcopal bibliomaniac,* and evinced the true, ardent, and accurate
spirit which all thorough-bred book collectors ought to possess — is, to my humble
apprehension, quite beyond the possibility of doubt or question. The reader
perhaps longs to make further acquaintance with him ... all in good time.

* the Harleian volumes are respectably hound.'] Lisardo is riglit in his general
description of the Harleian books. They had frequently also a star or lozenge
of gold in the centre of the sides, and the lining was usually Dutch marble paper.
It was a sufficiently pleasing occurrence for Mr. Grenville to find his vellum
COPY of the Petri Carmeliani Carmen (printed by Pynson, without date, in 4to.
see the Typog. Antiq. vol. ii. p. 548-552) from the style of its binding, to
have been formerly, in all probability, the very copy noticed in the Bill.
Harleian. vol. i. no. 7485. This precious and rare volume had ' worked itself
into the Macarthy Collection ; from which collection it was most gallantly obtained
by Mr. Grenville. The condition of it is extremely desirable ; and on many
accounts it must be considered a very curious historical document.

I have often consulted my bibliomaniacal friends respecting the name of the
binder, or binders, of the Harleian library. Had Bagfobd or Wanley the
chief direction I suspect the latter : yet the former seems to have ' braced up '
his unwieldy faculties towards something rather curious respecting the biblio-
pegistic art ; for thus appears his advertisement, or prolieme, relating thereto —
in his Essay upon Coster and the Art of Printing, in the Philos. Transac.
vol. XXV. p. 2401. ' Book-binding shall be handled in all its parts ; its several
ages and times. Also the form, size, and volume : folding, sewing, head-banding,
several sorts of boards for covers, clasping, bossing, &c. also in all countries, as
China, Persia, Turkey, Greece ; ancient and modern Germany, Italy, France,
Holland, and Spain ; but more particularly England.' This is ' bold and brave '
■with a vengeance !

EIGHTH DAY.

505

The Augustan period of Mead, West, and Ratcliffe
exhibited pretty much the same character of bibhopegistic
art. Mead, who did everything in a grand style, was more
magnificent than West, and West had infinitely better
taste than Ratcliife. Indeed the volumes of poor Ratcliffe
betrayed something almost abhorrent in the bibhopegistic
costume : f for his fierce contrast of red and dark blue was
justified by no theory of colour whatever. Yet Farmee
was more slovenly even than Ratchffe. Pearson put his
bird upon the backs of his books ; and with those who
knew with what judgment that bibliomaniacal Major col-
lected, such an ornament needed no other recommendation
for the possession of the volume. Remember how our
friend Mercutio exulted, at a late sale, when he held up
this bird across the room— which, like the head of Medusa
absolutely lapidified his Adversary !

We have now reached the period of the Montagus and
Baumgartens, and what are called the Oxford and Cam-
bridge Bindings* The general characteristic of these bind-

• something almost abhorrent in the bibliopegistic art.] This expression stands
in need of qualification ; as Lisardo seems absolutely raving about the hideous-
ness of the Ratcliffian tomes. They are not so completely graceless as the
reader may imagine. The linings, it is true, are a dark shining blue, (no
rhyming intended— gentle reader!) on a white paper fly leaf: upon the top of
which latter is usually printed the word ' Perfect.' The exteriors of Ratclifife's
rarer black letter -volumes were generally red-morocco ; with a fair good sprmk-
ling of gilt on the backs. Ratcliffe had also a vehement love of green calf —
• 'twould a Saint provoke !'— but as he has spared the sides of a precious little
Prymer of Salisbury, which once belonged to Diana of Poitiers, (and upon which
Diana's insignia were impressed ; see page 489 ante); and confined his ' calf-
green' passion to the back only, of that interesting tome— I can forgive him for
a world of bad taste and clumsy workmanship observable in the greater part of
his library treasures.

* Oxford and Cambridge bindings.] The above may be considered a fair
general description of the stvle of binding adopted in the publications which
issued from these respective Alm/e Maxjies: but it must be understood that

506

EIGHTH DAY.

ings, is a sober gray-tinted calf, with bands ; having the
interstices filled with a moderate portion of gold, and the
linings and fore-edges marbled. The volumes open extremely
well, and there is a sufficient amplitude of margin. Some
of our friends are vehemently attached to this style of book-
coverture ; and run with avidity to Messrs. Cuthell and
Priestley, when, in their thumping annual catalogues, they
announce certain copies to have this characteristic binding.
Upon the whole, we may consider it as one step beyond the
Doric, and probably approaching the Ionic, order of Biblio-
pegism.

The British public had not yet seen the Corinthian order,
when up rose Rogee Payne* — hke a star diffusing lustre on

Lisardo is taking his audience back to the time of George the Second. Latterly,
there has been nothing, I think, particularly distinctive of the Oxford and
Cambridge bindings. In Hearne's time, they bound in a sober, quaker-coloured,
brown calf, at Oxford ; and were not a little addicted to the ' cutting and
pruning' system. It is the fashion to speak highly of large paper Heames ift
(niginal bindings: but this is mere prejudice. Lord Spencer possesses, I believe,
every large paper Hearne, saving the original edition of the Itinerary ; and
among these are copies in the original binding, and copies ' bound out of sheets.'
Which dost love best, bibliopegistic virtuoso? A dwarf or a giant copy? ' A
giant,' say you. The question was hardly worth putting : but the gist of this
' disportmg ' is, that ' giants' must be sought after among copies ' bound out of
sheets,' and not among original Oxford bindings !

♦ up rose Roger Payne.] At the mention of this magical name, in the
ANNALS of BiBLioPEGiSM, ' uprise' also the spirit and heart's blood of the
Bibliomaniac. While his pulse runs somewhat hard upon 99 to the minute his
eye, ' ,n a fine phrensy rolling,' darts along his book-shelves, in search of a
duodecimo, or octavo, or quarto, or folio, or one of each-' bound by Roger
f ayne^ as they emphatically designate his bibliopegistic achievements. Of
this Roger Payne strictly so called-for it is doubtful whether he ever knew
Pleasure (save the pleasure of tipling) in his life, let it be known that he
was a native of Windsor Forest; (another feather to the fame of that romantic
retreat! - see Pope's poem so called) where, if he did not ' warble his native
wood-notes wild,' possible it is, that when a child, he amused himself in peeling
bark from oaken or beechen trees, and moulding it into the shape of a ' boke '
Be this as it may ; our friend Roger, as he grew towards man's estate, betook

EIGHTH DAY.

507

all sides, and rejoicing the hearts of all ' true Sons ' of
Bibliomania. The tasteful Collector no longer deplored
the inefficient attempts of his countrymen to rival the glories

himself to Eton, that receptacle of bibHomaniacism, and was probably employed
by the o Travv Pote, the great bookseller of that learned collegiate Academy.
From Eton to London are but some short 22 miles ; and men of genius, when
within the Niagara-like ripples or eddies of London, feel themselves instinctively
and irresistibly drawn towards that same metropolis : and so it happened that
' our Roger' speedily began to look about him in the streets of the said London.

His first employ er was Tom Osborne ; a name equally familiar to thorough-
bred book antiquaries. Osborne (as described to me by one who kn'^w him
well) was a rough, imperative tradesman ; and Roger happened also to have a
rough, untractable spirit ; so that a close or lasting connection between them
could not be reasonably expected. They separated; when our hero of gilt
tooling betook himself to his namesake — Thomas Payne, the bookseller — (the
father of the present Mr. Thomas Payne) who was by no means related to him,
but of whose fostering and benign spirit it is most probable that Roger had had
some sufficiently substantial proof. It was not therefore ' Roger ?;erstis Thomas,'
but ' Thomas erga Roger :' and most true it is, as stated in Mr. Nichols' Literary
Anecdotes, vo . iii. p. 736, that Thomas Payne, the leading bookseller of his time,
shewed an unremitting benevolence of disposition towards Roger Payne, the
unrivalled book-binder of the same period : a union, not less natural than glo-
rious. These men were therefore the Cipriani and Bartolozzi, or, if you please, the
Wilson and W oollet of the age. Mr. Thomas Payne concluded by setting Roger
Payne up in business, near Leicester Square, somewliere between the years.
1766 and 1770. The fault was therefore Roger's if the result proved ' inglori-
rious.' Our hero of ' gilt tooling' aforesaid, commenced his career of fame and
fortune with a brother of the name of Thomas; but the union proved anything
but a fraternal one. Tom was tlie drudge or forwarder ; Roger reserved for
himself the colophonic * department, exclusively.

At what precise period Roger's love of ' barley broth ' in preference to ' sack '
(see the edit, of Mare's Utopia, vol. ii. p. 272, &c. 1810, 12mo.) began to evince
itself, has not been thoroughly ascertained ; but the fact has been too unequivo-
cally substantiated, that, instead of laying by money for ' chariot or coach ' (as

* ' Colophon is a word derived from a city of that name in Asia, where the
artists of all descriptions were exceedingly expert, insomuch that J^oXofCOVU
hrOiSsVai became a proverb among the Greeks ; signifying ultimam manum
imponere, to put the finishing hand to any thing. The same idea was implied by
the word Colophonem among the Romans, &c. Thomas s History of Printing ni
America, vol. i. p. 14 : 1810, 8vo.

508

EIGHTH DAY.

of Du SuEiL and Padaloup — there was no longer sorrow
and despair among the worshippers of the memories of
Grolier and De Thou — for they now beheld an artist, the
produce of their own soil, who bid fair to eclipse the most

above intimated by Lisardo) our Roger bethought himself only of the virtues of
the said ' barley broth ;' chaunting aloud, as he put the finishing touches betvreen
the bands — or as he run the ' guinea-edge ' along the very band itself—

Come, all you brave Wights,
That are dubbed Ale-knights,

Now set out yourselves in fight :
And let them that crack
In the praises of Sack,

Know Malt is of mickle might.

Though Sack they define.
To be holy, divine,
• Yet is it but natural liquor ;

Ale hath for its part.
An addition of art

To make it drink thinner or thicker.*
&c. &c. &c.

Like Falstaff, our bibliopegistic knight preferred his drink to his meat. Mr.
Payne, the living and very worthy bibliopolist, and son of the Protector of
Roger, hath a ' plesaunt conceited iest ' hereupon. He remembereth well a
memorandum of ' monies spent ' of our Roger, which was endited after the fol-
lowing fashion :

For Bacon ... 1 half-penny
For Liquor . . 1 shilling ! ! !

which reminds us of the four following excellent lines, in that auncient and
facetious comedy intituled Gammer Gurton's Needle :

When I saw it booted not out of doors I hied me
And caught a slip of Bacon when I saw that none espied roe
Which I intended not for lience unless my purpose fail
Shall serve for a slicing horn to drawn on twopots of ale.

But Roger himself was a poet upon this darling theme. Mr. Evans has favoured
me, from memory, with the following effusion of his malt-loving muse — which
accompanied a bill delivered for binding ' Barry on the Wines of the Ancients. '

* Recreation for Ingenvms Head-Pieces, or a Plesaunt Grove for their Wits to
walk in, 12mo. sign. A a. 5.

EIGHTH DAY.

509

successful efforts of all foreign binders, of whatever age or
country. Accordingly, the said Roger Payne had nothing
to do but to sit quietly and orderly at home, to regulate his
hours of business and of meals, to let his fare be moderate,
and his domestic habits simple ; and if he could not rise
with the sun or the lark, nor go to bed when they also
retired to rest, he might at least have kept good and christian-
like hours, and attended to equally christian-like customs . ,
LoEENZo. I conclude, from what you say, that he did
neither,

LisARDO. Your conclusion is just. In short, if this
identical Roger Payne had only exhibited something like
similar habits of industry and temperance with those, in a
sister business, who bore the same surname, there is no
saying what might have been the extent of his business or
the measure of his wealth ! He might have kept both
chariot and coach — of an olive-tint, or deep crimson colour —
as to him should seem most meet ; and his hay or chestnut
horses might have been only equalled, in tone of colour, by

(There was an anterior verse.^

Homer the Bard who sung iu highest strains.

The festive gift, a goblet, for his pains ;

Faiernian gave Horace, Virgil, fire,

And Barley Wine mj British Muse inspire.

Barley Wine first from Egypt's learned shore ;

And this the gift to me from Calvert's store.
Sobriety seems to be as good ' policy ' as ' honesty ;' for, from lack of that
virtue, poor Roger soon grew ragged and wretched ; and such was the state of
his penury, that he was often obliged to make his own tools — and those of iron /
Yet is this fact probably the greatest compliment to his genius ; for, in despite
of such tools, he occasionally ' turned out' work which astonished the uninitiated,
and of which the Beauclerks, Cracherodes, and Stanleys of the day were abso-
lutely enamoured. The reader cannot have a better idea of the squalid appear-
ance of the renowned Roger Payne, than by the following facsimile of him —
taken on a reduced scale from a private print which Mr. Payne's Father caused
to be executed, at his own expense, after the death of our hero. It shews ' the

510

EIGHTH DAY.

the specimens of his own russia-binding I But he was a
very naughty man, and would take heed unto none of these

man at his work (as Mr. Nichols says very truly) in his deplorable working
room.' The subjoined inscription is from the classical pen of the highly respected
and now venerable Mr. James Bindley.

nat.j/jp: denat.jp'^y.
Effi^em JkauiM? graphicam sollertis Bibliope^,
Mh-T/i/rrorn rnrritis J^ihliv/.fJa lUy/it.

EIGHTH DAY.

511

tilings. He preferred garments ' all tattered and torn ' to
sound and comfortable clothing ; and would rather go ' slip

Such was the usual appearance of the hero of his art, even in the plenitude of
his fame, when he had his first interview with Earl Seiicer — at that time busily-
engaged in the formation of a Library which has since placed him at the head
of all private Collectors in Europe. The interview however was rather with the
Countess; who, when Roger (proud of his talents and regardless of his dress)
thrust himself upon her notice, was, at the time, dressing for court. Her French
hair-dresser, upon seeiiig such a figure, immediately exclaimed, ' Ah Dieu ! — mais
comment done est-ce que c'est ainsi qu'on se presente dans ce pais-ci dans un
cabinet de toilette ! '. . . The result of the interview was by no means discouraging
to our binder. On the contrary, it proved to be an introduction to a vast deal of
substantial employment : and from henceforward the shelves of the Spencer
Library were adonied with a number of the most beautiful and exquisite
productions of this celebrated artist. Indeed the library in question is acknow-
ledged to possess the chef-d'xuvre of our hero. It is the Glasgow Mschylus of
1795, folio, containing the original illustrative drawings of Flaxman — which
were dedicated to the Noble Mother of its present Possessor. And here, lover of
oddities, the present seems to be the fittest place to introduce to thy especial
notice, a few of the Bills of the said bibliopegistic hero : for they were equally
original and diverting. Suppose we begin with the bill for the volume just
mentioned ? Le voici ! — but let it be read with all due gravity and decorum —
and premised, on my part, that the ensuing is a verbatim, literatim, and punctuatim
transcript of the original :

' Aeschylus. Glasguae, MDCCXCV Flaxman Illustravit. Bound in the very
best maimer sew'd with strong Silk, every Sheet round every Band, not false
Bands ; The Back lined with Russia Leather, Cutt Exceeding Large ; Finished
in the most Magnificent Manner Era-border'd with ERMINE expressive of The
High Rank of The Noble Patroness of The Designs, The other Parts Finished
in the most elegant Taste with small Tool Gold Borders Studded with Gold ;
and small Tool Panes of the most exact Work. Measured with The Compasses.
It takes a great deal of Time, making out the different Measure-ments ; preparing
the Tools ; and making out New Patterns. The Back Finished in Compartments
with parts of Gold studded Work, and open Work to Relieve the Rich close
studded Work. All the Tools except Studded points, are obliged to be Workt
off plain first. — and afterwards the Gold laid on and Worked off again. And this
Gold Work requires Double Gold being on Rough Grain'd Morocco, The
Impressions of the Tools must be fitted & cover'd at the bottom with Gold to
prevent flaws, & cracks . . . . 12 12 0

Fine Drawing Paper for Inlayhig The Designs 5s. 6 (/.Finest Pickt"\
Lawn paper for Interleaving The Designs Is. 8d. [ 1 yd & ahalf of V 1 19 -
Silk 10s. 6d. Inlaying the Designs at 8d. each— 32 DESIGNS 111. 4 J
Mr. Mcrton adding Borders to (he Drawings . . 116-

Ll6 7

512

EIGHTH DAY.

shod ' than in dancing pumps. His appearance bespoke
either squaHd wretchedness, or a foohsh and fierce indifFer-
ence to the received opinions of mankind. His hair was

The preceding is a pretty fair specimen of the ' original' and ' diverting'
properties of the bills of Roger Payne. It is indeed replete with the garrulous
chit-chat of an old stager of four-score ; and in parts resembles a Coach-maker's
account. Tliere are yet however more loquacious and even original specimens of
the arithmetical compositions of our Roger ; and, as we are tarrying in Lord
Spencer's library, suppose we divert ourselves with the following? It relates to
the binding of an ancient edition of Petrarch, described in the Bibl. Spenceriana,
vol. iv. p. 141-3.

♦ The paper was very weak, especialy at ye Back of this Book. I was
obliged to use new paper in ye Washing to keep the Book from being
torn or broken. To Paper for Washing . • . 2

To Washing their was a great deal of Writing Ink and the bad Stains,
it required several washings to make the paper of the Book quite safe;
for, 'tho the Book with one or two washings would look as well at
present, it will not stand the test of Time without repeated washings.
Carefuly and quite Honestly done. . . . g

To Sise-ing very carefuly and Strong . . .76

To Sise to Sise the Book . . . ..16

To mending every Leaf in the Book, for every Leaf wanted it thro' the
whole Book; especialy in ye Back Margins. I have sett down ye
number of peices to each Leaf.*

Cleaning the whole Book . • . . . 4

1 14 6

The Book had been very badly folded and the Leaves very much out of
square; I was obliged to Compass every leaf single, and mark the
irregular parts, and take them off without parting the sise of the Copj',
very carefuly and Honestly done . . . 0 3 6

The Book being all in Single Leaves, I was obliged to stick it with silk
fine and white, to prepare it for sewing done in ye Best manner and

uncommon

The copy of this Book was in very bad Condition when I received

0 2 6

* 1st Leaf 5 peices, Head and Back Margins quite bad.
2d. 5 peices ~

3d. 5 Do.

4th. 6

5th. 8 peices
6th. 3 Do.
7th. 2
8tb. 2
9th. 1
10th. 2

and all the rest of the same Condition ; all wanted T
>■ Mending, and the last leaf was remarkably bad, I l 10 6
inlayd it and mended it, took me 3 days works J

EIGHTH DAY.

513

unkempt ; his visage elongated ; his attire wretched ; and
the interior of his work shop— where, hke the Turk, he
Avould ' bear no brother near his throne ' — harmonised but

it. The most Antiq. Edition I think I have ever seen. I have done
the very best ; I spared no time to make as good and fair a Copy as is
in my power to do for any Book that ever did, or ever will, or
EVER CAN be done by me or another workman ; thinking it a very fine
unique edition. Bound in the very best manner in Venetian Colourd
morocco leather, sewed with silk, the Back lined with a Russia Leather
Finished in the Antiq: Taste, very Correctly lettered, and very fine
small Tool Work, neat Morocco joints, Fine Drawing paper inside to
suite the Colour of the Original paper of The Book. The Outside
Finished in a True Scientific ornamental Taste magnificent. The Back
Finished in tlie Antiq Taste, very correctly letter'd in Work. The Whole
Work done in the very Best Manner for preservation and elegant Taste L4 7

No wonder that Collectors are chary of such precious documents of so renowned
a Bibliopegist !

We must not yet say farewell to such truly original and brilliant effusions
connected with the art and craft of bibliopegism. Among the employers of our
Roger, was Dr. Moseley ; who I presume took a compensation ' in kind' for
' the learned advice' which he was in the habit of giving to his ingenious but
untractable patient. At the sale of the Doctor's library, in 1815, several specimens
of Roger's bills were discovered ; and among them, the following : from which
we learn that the Philosopher who could place ' health' in the^-st rank, and
' money ' in the second, preferred nevertheless a ' shoing horn' of ' Ale' to every
other earthly felicity— thus again singing, as he with difficulty put on his night
cap for his truckle-bed —

' But history gathers
From aged forefathers

That Al£s the true liquor ot life ;
Men liv'd long in health

And PRESERVED THEIR WEALTH

Whilst Barley-Broth only was rife.'

'Recreations for Ingenious Head Pieces, ibid.

But the reader is beginning to be impatient for our Roger's ' set off' against the
' learned advice ' of Dr. Moseley. Here are two of these specimens :

' The Cavis Astro Elimata was, according to the time and work in the binding
put at 4s. less than the time it took in that work. And (Dr. Mosely) in his great
goodness will, I am confident, consider the bad condition of this Book, and thro'
a full desire to do the very best for the learned Advice, which is more to me
than Money. Health 1st. Money 2nd. best. I have agreed to make an abate-
ment of 4s. in the Washing, Mending, &c.'

514

EIGHTH DAY.

too justly with the general character and appearance of its
owner With the greatest possible display of humility, in
speech and in writing, he united quite the spirit of quixotic

• Harmony of the World, by Heydon, London, 1642. Bound in the very best
manner ; the Book sew'd in the very best manner with wliite silk, very strong,
and will open easy, very neat, and strong boai-ds, fine drawing Paper inside
stained to suit the color of ye Book, The outsides finished in the Rosie Crucian
Taste, very correct measured work. The inside finished in the Druid Taste with
Acorns, and S. S. (vide Stukeley's Abury) studded with stars, &c. in the most
magnificent manner. So neat, elegant, and strong as this Book is bound. The
Bind ing is well worth 13s. and the inlaying the frontispiece, cleaning and mend-
ing, is worth 2s. To (Dr. Moseleys) great goodness I am so much indebted,
that my gratitude setts the price for the Binding, inlaying, cleaning, and mending,
at only L. 0 10 6. 1796, 11th August, Reed, the Contents by me,

Roger Payne.

' Soul of Astrology, , by Sahnon, Land. 1679. Bound in ye very best manner,
sewd with Silk, very neat morocco joints, fine drawing paper inside, Russia Lea-
ther of the true Russia colour as Imported, great care hath been taken to refold
and putt the Margins in the best order for preservation as possible, gilt leaves
not cut. N.B. a great deal of time more than common in binding this Book, 9. 6.

' Parts of the Book washed and mended in the following places, &c. page 19,
155, 259, 274, 311, 334, 401, page 221, back Margins, frontispiece neatly
inlaid, &c. Bastard Title, lined several Margins, torn places mended not sett
down, dirty places clean'd very carefull}'.'

Let the learned hereafter determine what was here exactly meant by the
' Rosie Crucian Taste.' The modern gentleman, designated by that name,
hath no pretensions to such lore. I subjoin two more specimens ; ])resuming that
the patience of the reader is not yet quite exhausted. They exhibit the very
quintessence of orthography, and a sufficient proof of the contemptuous manner
in whicli our Roger was wont to speak of his bretheren in the same art. They
belong to volumes in the possession of my friend Mr. Utterson.

' Vesalii Humani Corporis fabrica. The Title Washed, Cleaned and very
neatly Mended, The opposite Leaf Ditto, The Portraie Margins Cleaned and
the opposite Leaf Ditto. Fine Drawing Paper inside, exceeding neat and strong
morocco joints. Fine purple paper inside very neat. The Outsides Finislied with
Double Panes and Corner Tools agreable to The Book. The Back Finished in
a very elegant Manner with small Tools, the Boards required Peice-ing with
Strong Boards and strong Glue to prevent future Damage to the Corners of the
Book. 2 Cutts new Guarded. The former Book- binder had mended it very
badly as usial. I have done the very Best Work in my Power according to
Orders, took up a great deal of Time, 01. l5s. Od.

EIGHTH DAY. 515

independence. Such a compound — such a motley union

was probably never before concentrated in one and the
same individual !

' Sandys Travels MDC.X. Wheeler and Span's Travels M.DC.LXXV. Bound
in the very best Manner, sewd in the Best manner with Bands outside of ye
Back. Fine Drawing Paper for %ing Leaves at ye begyning and end of the
Book. Fine dark Colourd Purple Paper inside, & morocco Joints very neat.

' The Back coverd with Russia Leather, before the outside cover was put on.
N. B. The Common practice of Book-binders is to Line their Books with Brown
or Cartridge Paper, the Paper Lining splits and parts from the Backs and will
not last for Time and much reading. Bound in the finest Russia Leather of the
same Colour as imported. Parts was staind wanted washing and cleaning, which
I have taken particular care to do, to make the Books as fair and clean
as I possibly could, it being a principal object to make it a fine Copy. Their was
a great many torn places, which I mended as neat as I possibly could, of the
same Colour'd paper as the Books. The Prints wanted new margins to all of
them, except 2 or 3, for the old margins was raged and staind, I have taken care
to peice the margins very neat with p.aper of the same Colour and substance, in
the thickness or thiness of the various Prints as I possobly could, took a great
deal of time. I hope I have been earful to put in the very best impressions j I
have taken care not to beat or any ways injure the Prints, I have been conscien-
tiously care-ful in all parts of ye Work L.l 13 0 Dec. 1st. 1794, Reed, the
Contents. Per Roger Payne, Book-binder.'

If my friend Mr. DTsraeli should ever favour us with a fourth volume of his
Curiosities of Literature, he will probably not forget how strong a claim some of
the preceding extracts may have to a niche in his octavo pages. But it is time
to draw towards the close of tliese Rogeriana, Our unrivalled, but hapless artist,
continued his labours with various success and vicissitudes till his death, which
happened in 1797. Towards his latter years, he took one Richard Wieu to be
a fellow labourer in his 'wretched workshop.' Wier happened to be as fond of
' barley broth' as his associate; and could repeat the whole of the song, just in
part quoted, with still more precision than Roger : oftentimes exulting — towards
the close of it— that

' Sack's but single broth :
Ale's meat, drink, and cloth,
Say they that know never a letter.'

Sobriety is allowed on all hands to be the parent of union ; inebriation, of dis-
cord. And thus it happened between these Uvo doughty champions of the
bibliopegistic art. They were always quarrelling ; but Wier, who was moulded
in the Hercules Farnese form, used sometimes to thrash his master into acquies-
cence and submission : and Mr. G. Nicol informs me that poor Roger used to
compose a sort of Memoirs of the Civil Wars between himself and his fellow-

516

EIGHTH DAY.

Belinda. Be so obliging as to inform us of the character
of his binding ; of its excellence and defects.

LiSARDO. Willingly ; but in lew words. His ornaments

labourer. They afterwards parted. Wier went abroad, and being taken by a
privateer, he threatened to demolish half the crew if they diii not liberate him.
However, before this happened, both Roger and Wier were taken under the
umbrageous wings of Mr. Mackinlay the bookbinder. (Of the renowned Mrs.
Wier we shall quickly make especial mention.) And here ends our history of
Roger Payne. His later efforts, under the pressure of poverty, disease, and
dependence, shewed that his sun was fast setting; and our Mustapha of book-
binders breathed his last in circumstances equally exciting commiseration and
disgust. It remains, ' after the manner,' not of Plutarch, but of Dr. Johnson, to
say a few words upon the merits and demerits of the performances of the
renowned character under consideration.

Generally speaking, Lisardo has summed them up pretty accurately. The
great merit of Roger Payne lay in his taste— in his choice of ornaments; and
especially in the working of them. It is impossible to excel him in these two
important particulars. His favourite colour was that of olive, which he called
Venetian. In his linings, joints, and inside ornaments, our hero generally, and
sometimes melancholily, failed. He was fond of what he called ' purple paper,'
the colour of which was as violent as its texture was coarse. It was liable also
to change, and become spotty ; and as a harmonising colour with olive, it was
odiously discordant. The joints of his books were generally di^ointed : uneven,
carelessly tooled, and having a very unfinished appearance. My good friend
Mr. Payne (the well known filial descendant of Roger's protector, of the same
name) always boasts of the backs of our hero's books :— ' ^'ou may let a waggon
roll over them,' says he, ' and they will not be injured :' the answer to which
is, ' books are not bound for the purpose of having waggons to roll over them.'
I am free to admit the very excellent manner in which Roger's work was
forwarded ; every sheet being fairly and bon&, fide stitched into the back— which
was afterwards usually coated in russia : but his minor volumes did not open
well in consequence. The ornaments of his backs, and his mode of managing
hands, were peculiarlj his own ; and books, executed by him, are quickly dis-
covered by these characteristic marks. He was too fond of thin boards; which
in folios (not excepting the peerless iEschylus just mentioned) produces an
uncomfortable effect from fear of their being inadequate to sustain the weight
they envelop. Of the libraries, which have been sold by auction, none have
contained so many beautiful specimens of Roger Pjiyne's binding as that of the
late Colonel Stanley: which exhibited the very diamonds of his art-
irradiating the room as they glided beneath the ' hasta' of Mr. Evans. To say,
however, as Mr. John Nichols has said (and for thus having said he merits a
geulle rap of the rectangular-headed cane, noticed at p. 403, ante) that Roger

EIGHTH DAY

517

were the great boast of his binding. They were chaste,
beautiful, classical, and most correctly executed ; and his
side-covers were the field in which he shone most conspicu-
ously. The bacJas of his books, although the leaves were
admirably put together in point of ' stitching and sewing,'
had often a loose, irregular, and even clumsy appearance.
In his insides, whether for joints or linings, I think he
almost invariably failed ; and his boards may be said to be
generally too thin. He was a great Doctorer (as they call
it) of old books ; and, in conjunction with the famous Mks.
WiEB,,* miracles were sometimes the result of their united
operations !

While Roger Payne was pursuing his unrivalled career —

Payne ' lived without a rival, and died, it is feared, without a successor,' is at
least to say what is not strictly correct. I shall ' shew cause,' in a subsequent
note, why this judgment should not be ' set aside.'

* in conjunction with the famoxis Mrs. Wjeb.] In the preceding page there
is a sort of parenthetical notice of the book-restoring heroine here to be
discoursed of. While this brief memoir of her labours in cleaning, mending,
reviving, and perpetuating injured or decaj'ed volumes, is passing from pen to
paper, the worthy Mrs. Wier lieth dangerously ill at home with a rheumatic
fever, and other ailments incidental to old age : which now (to borrow Sir Thomas
Wyatt's expressive language) ' hath her in his clutch.' This good woman hath
' done marvels' in her time and in her way. Perhaps her chef-d'ceuvre was the
copy of the Faite of Arms and Chiualrye, printed by Caxton, in the Roxburghe
Collection ; mended by herself and bound by Roger Payne — for whom indeed she
was pretty constantly and most successfully employed. I remember, some twelve
days before the Roxburghe sale, with what eagerness and zeal Mr. George Nicol
shewed this very copy to Lord Spencer — who happened to come in just at the
time of our parlance of it— and the gratification expressed by his Lordship at
such a restorative feat. Unless the part (it was, I believe, the last leaf more
especially) were held up against a strong light, it could not have been detected.
At the sale, this very circumstance perhaps put fresh mettle into the hook-knight
who sti'ove to i)ossess it — and the hammer of Mr. Evans did not drop upon this
Payno-Wi BRIAN production till it had reached the tremendous sum of 3361.1
See the Bibl. Roxb. no. 6348. One might therefore have addressed this ancient,
but now to-youth-restored volume, in the words of the ' Envoy of R. Coplande
Boke Prynter ;

518

EIGHTH BAY.

the very Wellington of the then Bibliopegists — there ap-
peared, from the ' sparkles ' which seemed to fall from this
radiant star, a galaxy of rival book-binders— in the names

' Layde vpon shelfe, in leues all to tome

With letters dymme, almost defaced clene

Thy liyllynge rotte, with wormes all to worne

Thou lay, that pyte it was to sene

Bounde with olde quayres, for age all hoorse and grene

Thy matter eodormed, for lacke of tliy presence

But nowe thou arte losed, go shem'e forth thy sentece.'

Assemble of Foules, 1530, folio.
In the year 1774, Mr. and Mrs. Wier went over to Toulouse for the purpose
of binding and repairing the books in Count Macarthy's library. On their
return, her husband betook himself to Roger Payne ; but Mrs. Wier, late in life,
on the recommendation of Mr. Nicol, betook herself to Edinburgh to repair the
books, parchments, vellums, &c. in the Record Office of that city : and there
it was that Lord Frederick Campbell was so much pleased with her good
conduct, and so highly gratified by her successful labours, that nothing would
' serve his Lordship's turn' but he must cause a portrait of Mrs. Wier to
be engraved— in the stipling manner— for the sake of a chosen bibliomaniacal
few. The plate was private : but, with the consent of all the parties concerned,
it is here made public : on a reduced scale, and in a more artist-like manner
than its precursor. Thus let Roger Payne and Mrs. Wier go down toge-
ther—if not to posterity —at least till the present generation of Roxburghers
cease to meet on the 17th of Jiuie!

EIGHTH DAY.

519

of Kalthoeber, Staggemier Walther, and Hering.*
They are now living, and I shall be silent about their praise
or dispraise; yet I cannot fail to point out to you the

It remains only to add that the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wier is yet living, in full
health and vigour, and with a tolerable share of business in his trade as a binder
and boarder of books. He has been twenty years in France, and has only returned
since the expulsion of Bonaparte. He is a civil, active, and efficient tradesman ;
and, warned by the examples of Roger Payne and his father, he hath lustily
renounced, ' henceforth and for ever,' all inordinate attachment to ' Barley
Broth,' or • Barley Wine.'

* Mackinlay, Kalthoeber, Staggemier, Walther, and Hering.]
These ' rival herpes' of ' blind tooling' and ' marble and gilt edging' shall be
dispatched in a summary, but civil and commendatory manner. Mr. Mackinlay,
the living Father of the bibliopegistic art, hath earned great renown in his
business : but his Folios are, to my eye, the preferable productions of his instru-
ments. Lord Spencer possesses however a very exquisite specimen of his
binding, in a small quarto form, being the first edition of Orlando Furioso : so
minutely described at page 286 of the previous volume. The inside is the fielf}
of Mr. Mackinlay's elaborate and curious art ; and this, it must be confessed, has
all the minuteness and all the finish of Roger Payne's happiest efforts. The
outside, and especially the back, is a failure : indeed the backs of Mr. Mackinlay's
smaller volumes are too frequently heavy ^nd tasteless. These smaller vplumes are
also oftentimes choked from the tightness of the sewing ; therein erring upon the
' broadi-wheel waggon' system — as pleasantly noticed at page 516, ante. I
readily take off my hat, and make my best bow, to the folios of Mr. Mackinlay—
as those folios appear in the choice library of Mr. Grenville, and as the large
paper Matthew Paris, in particular, appears in the library at Althorp. Mr.
Grem'ille possesses a set of Dugdales (the very mention whereof causeth ' th^
tingling of the blood' — to borrow Dryden's forceful language) bound in dark blue
morocco by our ' Mackinlay,' which are most splendidly attired on the sides :
having, at each corner, a sort qf circular gilt-filagree work, of the diameter of
about 3 inches : accompanied by other ornaments of a minor degree of splendour.
Yet Mr. Mackinlay is somewhat too lavish of decoration, and his adoption of
brown paper li7iing is most odious and heretical. A melancholy tinge has been
thrown upon the later years of Mr. Mackinlay's life. A fire not only consumed
his premises, (therein, among other things, destroying a foie paper Rapin's
History of England— .excruciating tonnent to jts possessor, Gonsalvo!) but a
more deadly blow fell upon him in the premature dissolution of an only son : a
bookseller, who, inhabiting the premises whicli had been varmed by the breath
of an Elmsley, might have considered such a situation as the sure road tQ
fortune and respectability ! But ... let others tell wherefore this young m^i>
fell a victim to folly, vanity, and dissipation !

VOT.. I?. K k

520

EIGHTH DAY.

works of a true disciple of the school of Roger Payne in
the productions of Charles Lewis. Some may think the
scholar has eclipsed the master, and I am free to confess
that there appears to be truth in that opinion. What a
difference, too, in the respective habits of these renowned bib-
liopegists ! — and what a striking illustration of the old story
of Tommy and Harry !' Cleanliness, diligence, propriety,
temperance — all these things seem to prevail in Mr. Lewis's
' premises and appurtenances thereunto adjoining ;'* and if

Mr. Kalthoeber has had ' hard justice' meted out to him in the notice of
the binding of the first Anthology of 1494, at p. 469, ante. Possibly that
hideous book-surtout was the express taste of Count Revickzky : as in russia
quartos and even medium octavos there are specimens of Kalthoeber's binding
which do credit to his name. Latterly, Mr. Kalthoeber hath worked in the
premises of Mr. Otridge the bookseller, and his flat-backed octavos quickly shew
the quarter whence they derive their embellishments.

Of Mr. Staggemier's bibliopegistic skill I wish to speak with all possible
respect and good nature. This binder hatli a quick and clever way of putting
octavos into a comely garb, and his choice of ornaments is by no means dis-
paraging to his taste. The Royal Institution Library possesses the ' ne plus
ultra' of Mr. Staggemier's skill. It is the Didot Horace of 1799 ; in blue
morocco, and embellished with ornaments cut after antique models. This
sumptuous volume was the present of Mr. Thomas Hope, a gentleman dis-
tinguished for his commendable and inflexible attachment to whatever savours
of ' Greek and Roman Art.' Mr. Hope gave the binder his plan — not of
' reform' — but of book-embellishment ; and the result has proved the master
genius which presided over the operations of the workman. Mr. Walther is
a substantial, good, honest binder ; without aspiring to extraordinary celebrity,
or classical taste, he possesseth much that will gratify a collector who is
unambitious of costly or curious book-furniture. Mr. J. Hering conducts the
business of his late brother, the renowned Charles Hering ; of whom ' anon.'
The greatest compliment to be paid him is, that he has shewn himself in every
respect worthy of the important and arduous charge devolved upon him. Let
lovers of lusty folios, and broad-spreading quartos, and royal octavos, betake
themselves to No. 9, Newman-Street, the present residence of Mr. J. Hering
aforesaid.

* Mr. Lewis's ' premises and appurtenances thereunto adjoining.''} The ' pre-
mises and appurtenances' of a Book-binder are of infinitely greater importance
than the reader, on first consideration, may imagine. In general, these biblio-
pegistic ' premises and appurtenances' are at the very summit of the house —

EIGHTH DAY.

521

the said Charles Lewis appear to be by no means discon-
certed at the eulogies passed upon his exertions, and to be
somewhat given to a love cayenne-pepper in his charges —

such as were C. Hering's, and such as are Mr. Mackinlay's. Imagine, therefore,
nervous and short-breathing collector, what must be thy pangs— in travelling,
either on a very hot or very cold day, to such an altitude, to give directions, or
to see ' how matters are going on ? ! ' The scaling o^ the terrace of Pope's Timon
(Moral Essays, ep. iv.) is nothing to such a perpendicular achievement. What
then, you will ask, are the characteristics of the ' premises and appurtenances'
of Charles Lewis — the bf illiant pupil in the school of Roger Payne ? Briefly
these. You raise a well polished and well sounding knocker, at no. 29, Duke-
Street, Piccadilly, which admits you into a sort of vestibule or hall — not quite of
the dimensions of a certain ' Egyptiaii Hall' — but sufliciently spacious to admit
the play of zephyr, and a general view of the stair-case, &c. You turn quickly to
the right ; where an upright clock remintls you of the value of the time of the
bibliopegistic oracle you are about to consult. A door then faces you — you open
it, and to the left, through a glass door, you have an exhilirating visto-iike view
of the forwarding and finishing of books in all their stages of advancement. This
view darts a sort of electricity through the young blood of the bibliomaniac ; who
comes in a sober mood to order ' calf gilt, half extra,' and retires in a phrensied
fit — after giving directions for ' morocco, with joints, and full charged gilding.'
Never was the doctrine of* causes being adequate to their effects' more powei*-
fully proved than upon the ground floor of Charles Lewis, the bibliopegist!

From the premises come we now to speak of the owner of the same. In the first
place, there are two observations which I beg leave most earnestly and unfeignedlii
to submit to the reader's unbiassed judgment. It hath been said, but idly and
groundlessly said, that Mr. Charles Lewis binds for mister Rosicrusius ' for
nothing.' The fact is quite otherwise ; as the purse-invading accounts of the said
' Mr. Charles Lewis' aflford but too melancholy demonstrations! Moreover, a
downright quarrel and contention (much more deadly than ' The Contention
betwyxte Churchyeard and Cameli upon David Dycer's Dream,' which was ' both
wyttye and profytable for all degryes,' printed ' by Owen Rogers for Mychell
Loblee,' 1560, 4to. : see Bibl. Steevens, no, 816) did lately arise between the
said binder and his employer. That quarrel is now hushed ; but the bibliopegist
would not budge from his entrenchments without a great deal of hard and heavy
fighting. By this I do not wish it to be inferred that Charles Lewis is a testy
or contending book-binder. On the contrary, there are many who will unite
their suffrages to my own (and my friend Hortensius in particular) in com-
mendation of his extreme good nature and civility. Only it must be allowed —
as above intimated by Lisardo — that he hath sometimes a strange propensity to
the sprinkling of cayenne-pepper upon his charges ! The next observation to be
submitted to the ' unbiassed reader ' is of far greater moment ; and respects Mr,

522

EIGHTH DAY.

in short, if few men seem to live ' upon better terms with
themselves,^ let us say that all this ariseth from sobriety, in-
dustry, and a wish to keep ' a one horse-chaise,"' to recreate

Charles Lewis exclusively'. He bath been charged with ' wearing tassels to his
halfbootsl' — and it has been said that tradesmen, in his situation, should not wait
upon gentleraeu with these dangling and disgusting appendages! Truly there
doth not appear to be raucb force in this objection ; for the question here
emphatically is, ' whether it be nobler' to appear in half boots and tassels, or in
shoes through which the hose or the flesh obtrudeth? In other words, would you
hold discourse with a cleanly and ' dap[)er fellow,' or with a ' raggamuffin' like
unto the genius depicted at page 510, ante? Oh that Roger Payne had attended
to the ' sobriety, industry, and the rational love of wealth,' which prevail —
according to Lisardo — at no, 29, Duke-Street, Piccadilly !

Thus feeling and fighting our way, we come to speak of Charles Lewis as a
BiBLioPEGiSTic ARTIST. It is plcasant to trace the progress of genius in any
department ; and I could discourse somewhat how the said Binder first put his
tools in motion up two pairs of stairs in Scotland Yard ; how he afterwards
aspired to a third floor in Denmark-Court, Strand ; and latterly settled upon ' terra
firma' in Duke-Street, Piccadilly: where he now resides as aforesaid. In all
these stages of life Charles Lewis exhibited the most unremitting diligence, and
the greatest possible aral)ition to be the leader in his ' calling.' Surely there
■was no ' stern stuff' in ambition like this ! ? He worked largely, in russia, for Sir
Richard Colt Hoare, Bart, and did a quantity of work in French calf, as it is
called, for my friend Mr. Heber, when in Denmark-Court ; and occasionally, on
my recommendation, he finished some few choice tomes for the library of Lord
Spencer. It was not, however, till Duke-Street ' received him' — breathing a
more classical or bibliomaniacal air, that he catne forward as the full-fledged
Bibliopegist : challenging the criticism of the fastidious, and exciting the admira-
tion of the liberal. He was now more ready of access, locally speaking, than
heretofore ; and he quickly received orders from Earl Spencer, Mr. Grenville,
Sir Mark Sykes, Mr. Hibbert, and, latterly, from the Duke of Devonshire and
Lord Grenville, for the binding of some of their choicest and most precious
tomes. His performances did not disappoint the expectations of his employers.
He ' turned out articles' whicli Lord Spencer could ' admire' and Mr. Grenville
more than ' endure ! '

The particular talent of Lewis consists in uniting the taste of Roger Payne
with a freedom of forwarding and squareness of finishing peculiarly his own.
His books seem to move upon silken hinges — therein differing from the ' golden
hinges' of certain gates described by Milton His joints (I should say the joints
of his books, for his oiun are somewhat clumsy") are beautifully squared, and
wrought. upon with studded gold ; and in his inside decorations he stands without
a compeer. Neither loaf-sugar paper, nor brown, nor pink, nor poppy coloured

EIGHTH DAY.

523

himself and family upon a Sabbath-afternoon ! Look
yonder ! — those olive-tinted, thickly gold-studded, tiny
tomes, are the produce of Charles Lewis's binding tools ! I

paper, are therein discovered : but a subdued orange, or buff, hariuonising with
russia — a slate or French gray, liarmonising with morocco — or an antique or deep
crimson tint, harmonising with sprightly calf — these are the surfaces, or ground
colours, to accord picturesquely wiih which Charles Lewis brings his leather and
tooling nito play ! The effect is oftentimes transporting :.. witness, the numerous
resplendent toines which emblazon the libraries of the illustrious Collectors just
noticed! Witness too, ye voluuies of ' th' olden t\mc,' now attired in velvet, or
morocco, or calf, by the cunning skill of our Hibliopegist, which repose securely
upon the shelves of York Minster and lUpon Minster libraries ! To particularise
would be endless: but I cannot help just mticing that, in his Orange and
Venetian moroccos, from the sturdy folio to the pliant duodecimo — to say
nothing of his management of what he is pleased tacetiously lo call ' binding a
la mode Francoise' — (in which method of binding ' panting' Bozeraiii Jeune ' toils
after him in vain') he has struck out a line, or fashion, or style, not only
exclusively his own, as an English artist, but, modelled upon the ornaments of
the Grolier and De Thou volumes, infinitely beyond what has yet been achieved
in the same bibliopegistic department. At any rate we may fairly say . . .

And what was Roger once is Lewis now !*

And so, wishing that the abovementioned ' one-horse chaise ' may be occasionally
relieved by ' a chaise and pair,' and that Charles Lewis may always attend to his
Church duties before he ventures upon his Sabbath recreation, accoutred in his
* tassels' aforesaid, let us hope that our ' facile princeps' of modern book-binders
may enjoy many years of health and prosperity to maintain his rising family.
These are hard times, and good paymasters are of rare occurrence Yet Mr.
Lewis hath luckily but slight cause of melancholy hereupon! One word more.
To rival the profiles of the First, Second, and Third Consuls of France, as
published about the year 1801, it was my original intention to have here exhibited
the profiles of the three Lewises : Charles, (our hero ;) George, atid Frederick.

* It is due to the ingenuity and perseverance of Charles Lewis to state, that in
his book RESTORATIONS he equals even the union of skill in Roger Payne and
Mrs.Wier. Witness, the Cicero Be Oratore, ()riiited at the Soubiaco Monastery,
in the collection of Mr. Grenville. That copy had been obtained among the
duplicates of the Duke of Devoushire, sold in 181,5. It was bought in a most
decre.pid and dingy state ; but has recently put on the appearance of youth —
fair, fresh, and joyous. Nothing can surpass it. But this specimen of the
resuscitative powers exercised in the ' visto-like view,' noticed at page 521, ante,
is by no means unique. The Duke of Devonshire and Earl Spencer each rejoice
in more than one instance of similar skill

624

EIGHTH DAY.

know full well how often they have been the objects of your
admiration. Examine them ; and * sigh no more, Ladies,'
for Baumgartens and Benedicts !*

Lorenzo, In former days you were partial to Faulkner?
But I check himself. . .

LiSARDo. Alas POOR Faulkner ! * Had his means
been extended, he had lived even now to compete with the
best of them : but his garret was small, his family large.

The brothers have, in their way, no small ' smack of genius.' To George the
reader is indebted for the engraved ornaments which appear at pages cxxxviii,
ccii, of the first volume ; and to Frederick, for the bronze portraits of Sixtus IV.
and Mahomet II.: see vol. i. p. cli, and the Tenth Day in tlie subsequent
volume. But my friend Mr. Ottley has more substantial proofs of the abilities
of these two latter, in his ' Italian School of Design: For fidelity and characteristic
spirit of the original, both George and Frederick are emuiently distinguished in
the productions of their burin . . . The three brothers (' mirabile dictu!')
had too much modesty to allow of the exhibition of such rival profiles!

* Baumgarten and Benedict.'] Two German binders, in this country, of con-
siderable employment and reputation in their day. Substantial volumes in
russia, with marbled edges, are the chief characteristics of tlieir bibliopegistic
atchievements. — ' non omnia possumus omnes,'

* Alas, POOR Faulkner !] Death has been as busy among book-einders as
among BOOK-coLLECTORS—since the appearance of the Bibliomania, in 1811.
What read we at p. 264 of the work just mentioned An honest eulogy upon
an honest man. The worthy creature there referred to— our Henry Faulkner —
survived the eulogy scarce a twelvemonth ; and yet that eulogy was formed of
materials not calculated to impair his strength, or daunt his courage. Poor
Faulkner died of a consumption — a disease, possibly generated (as Lisardo
seems to think) in the corrupt air of a confined garret. All his employers did
what they could to befriend him during his illness, and on his decease his
helpless family received no trifling proof of the respect enteitained for their
departed father. His widow strove to carry on the business, but in vain. She
afterwards kept a sort of green-stall, but with no better success. Of her present
destiny I am utterly ignorant : but three children at least share the misery of
their mother. It was some short month or so, before his death, that poor
Faulkner brought me his last account : concluding with the following charge,
and attestation of his gratitude— here literally copied •

for stage-hire to Hampsted [for his health] It l«.

Sir Pray Receive My most GrtaiJ'ul thanhs.
Golden Square, near the Heath, Hampstead.

EIGHTH DAY.

525

the air noxious, and his lungs could not sustain the conflict
with an almost purely hydrogene atmosphere. Let the
specimens of his skill remain unmolested upon your shelves,
as his body now reposes in its native dust ! Charles
Heking followed him * hard upon,'* a worthy, industrious,
and extremely skilful binder. Indeed, after Roger Payne,
he was, some twelve or fifteen years, the Leader of his
Bretheren. His workmanship or style of bniding was rather
sound and substantial, than elegant and classical : but for a
good thumping folio, or quarto, of Antiquities or Topogra-
phy, or a fine fat Leipsic printed octavo — you could not do
better than employ the said Charles Hering. He has left
a widow and a numerous family behind whicl) are supported
by the profits of his business, now conducted by his brother
with all the spirit and success of the deceased. Remember
thenijwhen you want your thumping folios or wide-spreading

* CnARLUs He-ri^g followed ' hard upon'] ' Deeper and deeper still' is the
note of woe we are touching. The late Charles Hering was taken away (to the
great grief of the book-world, somewhat suddenly : in apparently good health,
and in the plenitude of business and reputation. He was an industrious,
honest, and pains-taking man; and till the star of Charles Lewis rose above
the bibliopegistic horizon, no one could presume to ' measure business ' with him.
There was a strength, a squareness, and good style of work about his volumes
which rendered him deservedly a great i'avourite. His lettering also was regular
and in good proportion. His gieat error lay in double head-bands and brown
paper lining ; and his taste, it must be confessed, was at times a little o I'Allc-
mand ! The library at Althorp abounds with his folios and quartos ; and occa-
sionally with some prettily-executed duodecimos, as well as very handsome
octavos. On one occasion Hering ventured decidedly upon the same ground with
Lewis, and ' brandished lances ' with him in a duodecimo ' affair of honour :' it
was in a copy of tlie last edition of Mr. Rogers's Poems, given to the Countess
Spencer by the author. The style of ornament was suggested by lier Ladyship ;
and I must say that Hering made a good ' fight of it' with his young rival.
Mr. J. Hering now conducts the business of his late brother ; and a family of
TEN CHILDREN are maintained by the employment of the Hering bibliopegistic
establishment. Hear that, ye generous-hearted Bibliomaniacs ; and do not
plethorise Charles Lewis by too abundant occupation ! Bleeding is of benefit to
full habits— of all kinds.

526

EIGHTH DAY.

quartos put into russia surtouts. We have however three'
good binders yet living, of the names of Clarke, Fair-'
BAIRN, and Smith— (modelled upon the Payno-Lewisimt
school) that deserve encouragement and commendation : and
I rejoice that such able artists are in existence to hang upon
the flanks of the said Charles Lewis, and to put him upon
' the alert.' The First Consul of Book-Binders would
otherwise make himself the Emperor of his art !

Lysander. You have forgotten the name of Whitta-
KER ! ? . . .

LiSARDo. Whittaker — a Book-Binder too !? * Pray ex-
plain,- for I am wholly ignorant of that circumstance.

* Whittaker — a Book-Binder too '.'\ John Whittaker appearetli to be a verj
' admirable Crichton ' in his way. The reader, at page 414 ante, has had evi-
dence of his nocturnal incantations, respecting the Art and Mystery of Printing;
and he must now bfe informed of his necromantic skill in the Art and Mystery
of Book-Binding. I remember, some seven or eight years ago, that our
Whittaker used to bind pretty vigtiroiisly, in ruSsia and hogskin, for the magni-
ficent library at Luton. He afterwards betook himself to bibliopegistic capric-
cios ; and Mr. Stace the bookseller was a great promoter,- or ' stirrer up,' of
this many-tinted flame. Lord Spencer possesses an almost virgin copy of
Wynkyn De Worde's Art and Craft of Living and Dying Well, in 1503, folio —
bound in the true Whittakerian style. The sides are embossed by the device
of the printer: projecting to nearly one quarter of an inch. The coat is russia,
with a diamond-striped russia leather lining. But the Marquis of Bath probably
possesses the chef-d'oeuvre of Wliiltaker's talents as a binder. It consists of a
copy of Caxton's Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, bound in russia. ' The back
represents a tower, in imitation of stone. On the battlements of it is a flagj upon
the folds of which the lettering is introduced, in a character precisely similar to
that of the text. On a projection of the tower the name of the printer is
impressed. On the outside of the covers are Trojan and Grecian armour, in
relief, round which is a raised impression of the reeded axe. The edges of the
leaves of this curious volume are a gold ground, on which are painted various
Grecian devices. On the insides of the covers (which are likewise russia) is a
drawing (in India ink) of Andromache imploring Hector not to go out to fight ;
and on the recto is the death of Hector.' This description is furnished me by the
ingenious artist himself who executed the binding ; who adds thus : ' the letter
press of this volume is now in a fine state, being equal to when first printed,
though iuan3' hundred worm holes (which it had when before bound) are now

EIGHTH DAY.

527

Lysa^ider. Briefly then be it known, that the said John
Whittaker is scarcely less magical in his Binding than in his
Printing. However he now usually indulges in capriccios —
eastle walls, tented fields, gothic or arabesque compartments,
« drum, gun, trumpet, blunderbuss.' (and if he could
represent sound—) ' thunder!'

Almansa. Most amazing. But you are sportive, surely?

Lysander. I am grave and serious : or, in other words,
Whittaker 's talent, as a book-binder j may be said rather to
he in what others have never attempted to do at all, than
in superiority of workmanship in those things which are
common between book-binders. Proceed, illustrious mo-
narch ! . . .

Lorenzo. Methinks then I will get a few of my MS.
Legends, Chronicles, or Romances put occasionally into one
of these picturesque attires, so eloquently described by
Lysander —

Belinda. Do so. Variety is delightful. Yet here suffer
me to make a remark. You have gone through, most ex-
cellent monarch, the personal History, if I may so speak, of

effectually closed by a composition of the same quality as the paper, which
renders it imperceptible where they have been.' Thus our John Whittaker, if
not an ' earth-stopper,' appeareth to rival the celebrity of the most distinguished
' worm-hole stopper' in his Majesty's united dominions.

I close these Whittakeriana by the following communication, in the words
of this renowned artist himself. ' Mr. Richard Glen, a very first rate
Grangerite, has been pleased to have a copy of the Bibliomania inlaid in
large size, and elaborately illustrated with portraits, &c. bound in two
volumes, in hogskin [eheu! see p. 447, ante] which has a ground in imitation
of porous stone. The covers represent a Gothic stone building, in the centre of
which is a Gothic house sunk deep into the cover (which is au amazing thickness)
in the hollow part of which is a fine impression, from an engraving in wood, of
the bibliomaniac with his spectacles on, industriously arranging his books, which
are in curious old bindings, and are each so separately raised in the impression
as to give an idea of realitij. The other parts of the binding equally correspond in
singularity.' Let us only add hereto the three following marks of admiration ! ! !

528

EIGHTH DAY.

Book-binding ; tell us now, by way of conclusion, what are
the general colours, and styles of binding, which the
uninitiated, like myself, should adopt in fitting up their
Libraries ? Let me know how I am to manage my tints
* en masse,' and the leather coatings of books in particular.

LisARDO. Willingly, to the best of my judgment ; and
indeed this will form no very unfit finale to our Biblio-
pegistic Oration. First, let your books be well and evenly
lettered;* and let a tolerable portion of ornament be seen

* well and evenly lettered.'] It is justly observed by Vigneul-Marville, in his
MdangeSy^c. vol. i. p. 163, edit. 1700, that tlie ancient custom of lettering —
even not then extinct in Germany and Spain — was writing, or printing, the name
of the work upon the sides of the volumes. This method was sometimes supposed
to be improved upon by covering the title, so written or printed, with hom; as,
not to mention numerous instances, appears in a fine large paper copy of the
Hebrew Pentateuch, with a Commentary, in four folio volumes, in the library of
Merton College, Oxford. Grolier perhaps shewed the first example of lettering
between the hands The earliest method of lettering T conceive, was, that upon
the fore-edges of the leaves ; and it is a luxury which a tliorough-bred collector
only can appreciate, to discover, beneath a more modem gilt coat, this said old
lettering upon the ' fore-edges.' There are some Alduses to be caught up, upon
the fore-edges of which the let ering appears upon a reddish ground. These
copies belonged, I believe, to a Doctor A . . ., and they are in the finest possible
state of preservation : being ' crisp and crackling' to a degree! Lord Spencer's
most beautiful large paper Aldus is the Terence — from this collection,

I would recommend the lettering of a volume to be as full as possible ; yet
sententiousness must sometimes be adopted. The lines sliould be straiglit, and the
letters precisely of one and the same form, or character, within the line; yet the
name of the author may be executed a size larger than that of the date, or
place of its execution — and the lettering may be between tlie top and bottom
bands, or it may occupy the spaces between three bands or even more There
are instances wherein the lettering shall be the whole and sole ornament of the
back — as where many pieces are bound within the same cover . . . And here
readily do I call to mind that delectable illustration of the doctrine now advanced
(respecting the lettering of volumes forming their entire back-decoration) in the
choice and chubby duodecimo tome of a Collection of Catechisms, printed in the
reign of Elizabeth — wliich is now in tlie library of His Grace the Duke of Devon-
shire. That most enviable volume was once the property of my friend Mr. Neun-
burg. It was afterwards nibbled at by another friend (who will grieve to his latest
hour that he did not prefer biting to nibbling!) and in the third place, was seized

EIGHTH DAY.

529

upon the backs of them. I love what is called an over-
charged bacJc. At first, the appearance may be flaunting
and garish ; but time, which mellows down book orna-
ments as well as human countenances, will quickly obviate
this inconvenience ; and about a twelvemonth, or six months
added to the said twelvemonth, will work miracles upon the
appearance of your books.*

upon with mingled avidity and thankfulness by the late Dr. Danipier, Bishop of
Ely. Its entire back (bound by Lewis, in dark blue morocco) was covered with
a minute and elaborate designation of the catechetical tracts contained in it.

A momentous question here arises — respecting pebpendicular lettering.
Are thin tracts, in quarto or octavo, to be lettered horizontally, or as afore-
said ? If perpendicularly, how would you read ? From bottom to top— or from top
to bottom? My friend Atticus always expresses a sort of ' loathing or hate'
against this perpendicular mode of lettering. Sometimes the liead is turned one
way, and sometimes another. — ' Straight forward, smooth, regular lettering, if
you please, but no topsy-turvy work ' Be it so. Yet would you re-letter the
dramatic or poetic rarities, standing upon your shelves after this fashion, which
once adorned the collections of Pearson, Wright, Farmer, and Steevens ?' ' By
no means. In all fresh bindings, however, prefer horizontal to perpendicular
lettering. It shall be attended to, brave Atticus.

* the general appearance of your hooks.'] ' The general appearance ' of one's
library is by no means a matter of mere foppery, or indifference : it is a sort of
' cardinal' point to which the tasteful collector does well carefully to attend.
You have a right to consider books, as to their outsides, with the eye of a
painter: because this does not in the least militate against the proper use of
their contents. I know full well that there are some snappish critics who go
about ' damning with faint praise' — or 'assenting with civil leer,'

And without sneerhig teach the rest to sneer,
against what is called fine binding and ' dapper outsides.' Now this has always
struck me as the very sorriest possible exhibition of solemn affectation^ and it
generally comes from those who suffer their own persons, or dress, or furni-
ture, to be an apt and speaking commentary upon the book- text which they
preach. As if any scholar, or man of taste, could not relish the beauties of the
volume which he opens, because that same volume happened to be coated in bright
calf, or olive-tinted morocco!? Away with such disciples of Zoilus or Aristarchus :
' procul o procul este profani.' But now for rules of general appearance ; for I
' disdain to cite cases, or quote examples, confirmatory of some of the most choice
and curiously ornamented volumes being in the coUertions of our first-rate
Scholars !

630

EIGHTH DAY.

Be sparing of red morocco or vellum : they have each so
distinct, or what painters call spotty, an appearance, that
they should be introduced but circumspectly. Morocco, I
frankly own, is my favourite sur-tout : and the varieties of
them, hlue^ (dark and light) orange, green, and olive-colour,
are especially deserving of your attention.

Lorenzo. But then the expense ? And call to mind,
I pray you, master Charles Lewis''s cayenne pepper ! . .

LisAKDO. Is it for Lorenzo to argue thus? Look around.
What a ' blazon' — not ' of gentry' but of gentlemanly looking
books have we here ? See, below, the massive folios stand,
in mahogany coloured russia surtouts:— as the eye runs
upwards, we are struck with the quartos; where russia
gives way a little to morocco — especially to that which is of
an orange or olive tint. Your eye continues to glance
upwards ; where you observe the dear octavos stand (for

Lisardo loves, and rightly loves, a full charged gilded back. At first, the
appearance is garish or flaunting; but, as is properly observed above, time
quickly takes down the ' hey-dey' of this riotous aspect, as much as it does ' liey-
deys' of every other description. The library of AJr. Douce is a vastly pleasing
proof of the correct taste in full gilded backs. His books have a soft and warm
glow perfectly soothing and exhilarating. In large libraries there should not be
too much blind tooling, or a too great a want of gilt ; for, in such cases, a real
book looks like a sham book. No doubt the ornament should be as appropriate
as possible to the book. One could not endure gingerbread-gilt Bibles and
Prayer-Books, or Chronicles, or Dictionaries, or other books of reference. Let

these have a subdued decoration on their backs ; bands only, full gilt or a

running edge tool in the centres of them, with small ornaments between the
bands. And do, I beseech you, taste-loving bibliomaniac, discard ' for yourself and
heirs for ever,' that odious system of patronising brass nails upon a green baize,
funning along your shelves — to preserve your books from dust ! If you must have
something of this preventive kind, let it be gilt leather^and if you have doubts
of the effect of that ornament, learn from .... that the library of Semphonius,
decorated in this way, is a perfect coniirmatjon of its appropriate effect. That
library— wherein his guests are pfttimes wont to be regaled at a well reple-
nished repast, beneath an argaud-Jamp-— is quite a charming demonstration of
the successful union of ' full charged backs' and 'gilded leather dust-protectors!'

EIGHTH DAY.

531

immortal be the memory of that man who invented the
octavo tome !) dressed out in the delicious de veau* of
the bettermost days of book-binding in France ; and
between the bands of which the prettily managed gilt orna-
ments creep like the tendrils round the door of the cottager!
Still looking upwards, you notice the thickly-studded duode-
cimos, of all shapes and substances : now richly besprinkled
with diamond-like gilt tooling, and now almost plain, and
lettered, conceitedly as it were, at top. Thus rapidly have
I touched upon the subject Jbr general effect.

To particularise would be endless. Let russia claim your
volumes of architectural, or other, antiquities ; of topography;
of lexicography ; and of other works of reference — and strive
to get two or more volumes into one, where you can without
offering violence to the eye of taste.-f* But do not be
meagre of your ornaments on the back ; and never suffer
blind tooling wholly to pervade a folio or quarto — for by so
doing you convert what should look like a book, into the
appearance of a piece of mahogany furniture. For fore-

* delicious peau de veau.] In other words, calf-skin. The French, from some
thirty to fifty years ago, were wont to bind their books beautifully in this yellow
calf, with gilt edges, and flower-sprinkled backs. The tone, mellowed b^' such a
lapse of time, is now become such as even Wilkie might not disdain to imi-
tate in some of his minute ' interiors.' Indeed, I know that this tip-top artist —
upon whose eye nothiutr, whether animate or inanimate, is lost — hath made
divers studies of the effect of colour in the arrangement of hooks : and that, in
these studies, he is particularly anxious not to have spotty appearances. The
rules of Lisardo, as above given, are, upon the whole, sutficieutly orthodox.

t two or more volumes into one . . . without offering violence to the eye oftaste.']
I own I am a strenuous stickler for thick Dictionaries, or works of reference,
being divided as little as possible: but T did not expect that the Annals of
BiBLioPKGiSM could produce an instance of the vvhole of Henry Stephen's
Greek Thesaurus being bound in one volume. Nevertheless, so it is : and Lord
Holland is the noble owner of this unique copy. Lord Spencer has also a
unique specimen piece of book-binding, in another way. He possesses a
pqllection of Flemish pieces, printed in the xvith centnry, which open both
quartos and octavos !

532

EIGHTH DAY.

edges, where you do not startle at the increased price,
always use gilt: 'tis the most effectual protection against
external injury of every description— and in lieu of gilt, you
may, with the utmost propriety, order marble coloured edges:
but GILT UPON the marble — oh ! 'tis the very luxury — the
*ne plus ultra' of the bibliopegistic art ! I need scarcely add
let your margins be large, and let there be a few rough
honest witnesses of the integrity of the binder.* '

Let your Romances and Chronicles aspire to moeocco or
VELVET : though, upon second thoughts, russia is well
suited to history and chronicles — but for Romances, let
Lewis, Clarke, or Hering, be exhorted to exercise all their
ingenuity of tooling thereupon ! And for your Fifteeners,
or volumes printed in the fifteenth century, whether Greek,

* margins large rough witnesses of the integrity of the hinderJ] ' Large

margins' have been before considered as one of the symptoms of the bibliomaniacal
disease : see a certeine werke, p. 661. The ' summi plena iam margine libri ' of
Juvenal, as noticed among otlier desultory ' marginal' points by Schwarz, De
Ornament. Lihror. Vet. p. 68 ; and the ' squibs ' which Erasmus and Maresius
have ' let off' (consult the Polyhist. Literar. vol. i. p. 33, edit. 1747) against
marginal luxuries, are, T admit, of somewhat difficult resistance. Nevertheless
we approve tlie satire, bnt adhere to our love of ' large margins.' The ' rough
witnesses of the binder's integrity,' simply means the leaving divers leaves with
the edges not touched by the steel, in order to prove that the binder has been
moderate in the application of the art of ' cutting.' The bottom of the book
exhibits the surest test of this bibliopegistic integrity : if it have been practised,
the said ' bottom ' will appear rough and irregular. The sides, or fore-edges,
are also good testimonies of the same integrity. We must not be too anxious
for a smooth, unbroken surface. The fault of the binding of our Gallic neigh-
bours, is, in general, too great a love of a smooth, and, as it were, simpering,
outside. Mr. Lewis once narrated a ' pleasaunt conceited tale ' relating to these
said rough and honest witnesses. He had bound a book, secundum artem, for a
lady, who, evidently, (as her sex should always be) was as aiiless as possible ;
for, upon seeing these abhorrent edges, she insisted upon their being wholly cut
away ! — ' smack smooth ' was the word 5 and ' smack smootli ' was cjiiickly the
deed— in consequence of such • high behest.' The lady had probably heard of
the maxim — ' the nearer the bone the sweeter the meat 1 ' See vol. i. p. ccxiv,
hereupon ; and page 497, ante.

EIGHTH DAY.

533

Latin, Italian, or English — ^let me entreat you invariably
to use morocco : for theology, dark blue, black, or damson-
colour : for poetry, orange, green, olive-colour, or light
blue ; for history, red or dark green : while in large paper
quartos do not fail to remember the peau de veau of the
French, with gilt upon marble edges ! My abhorrence of
Hogshin urges me to call upon you to swear eternal enmity
to that engenderer of mildew and mischief.'* Indeed, at
any rate, 'tis a clumsy coat of mail. For your Italian or
French, especially in long suites, bespeak what is called
French calf binding : spotted, variegated, or marbled on the
sides — well covered with ornament on the back ; and, when
the work is worthy of it, Avith gilt on the edges. Let your
EngHsh octavos of history or belles lettres breathe a quiet
tone of chastely gilded white calf with marbled edges ; while
the works of our bettermost poets should be occasionally
clothed in a morocco exterior.

I believe I have now run through the chief changes upon
the subject Avhich was to occupy the Eighth Day of our
Decameron. The interesting specimens in the library
around you, ancient as well as modern, will however only
remind you, I fear, of the inadequacy with which this bib-
liopegistic harangue has been executed. Let us rise : the
beauty of the day calls us abroad ; and it yet wants a full
hour and a half to the ringing of the dinner bell.

* eternal enmity to that engenderer of mildew and mischief.'] Consult p. 447,
ante, upon the horrors concomitant upon hog-skin binding ! To which let me add
the instance of the large paper Drakenborch's, or Creviefs Livy, at Althorp, bound
in this manner— already suffering from the depredations of the worm — which
seems to have a love of bacon ' above all things. '

534

EIGHTH DAY.

LisARDO here left his seat, and busied himself in putting
away what he had taken down as materials for his lecture
upon Book-Binding. The Ladies seemed more intent upon
taking patterns of what had been placed before them, for
their respective binders to imitate, than to taste * the noon-
tide air and it was observed, in particular, when Lisardo
put away the first edition of Walton's Angler, bound with gilt-
marbled edges, in Venetian morocco, by Roger Payne — that
Almansa requested a farewell peep at it ; and even extended
her admiration to pressing it with her lip ! . . while Lorenzo,
without form or ceremony, gave a hearty salute to the
orange-colour surtout upon his first edition of Drunken
Barnaby — (frightful appellative !) tickled up by the tools of
Charles Lewis in all the luxury of gilt fret-work ! Innocent
indulgences !* — venial extravagancies — these ! At night,
an additional argand-lamp was suspended in the Library ;
and the party, instinctively and unanimously, placed them-
selves in easy red-morocco padded arm chairs, in various
parts of the room, and disported themselves without reserve
in criticisms upon the tomes and tints of the book-objects
before them. Wowermans might have envied many an
ejaculation ; and Teniers, Guyp, and the two Ostades have
been proud of the eulogies passed upon the mellowing tints
of copies of rare and precious books — once in the posses-
sion of Grolier, Maioli, or De Thou. Even the achieve-
ments of Padaloup, Du Sueil, and De Rome received a

* innocent indulgences, <Jc.] The reader must on no account consider the osculatefi
JDrunken Bai naby as a mere fiction. That deed was actually accomplished at the
hermitage of PALMEniN, during a repast at which were present Coeiolanus,
Menalcas, Behnardo, and ' one mo,' But who was tlie osculator? ' A3',
there's the rub,' says Bernardo — ' What, kiss and tell ? I' ' Not so, I reply :' — and
sink into nay chair, with finger upon lip, transformed into Harpocrates hiijiself !

EIGHTH DAY.

535

due portion of applause ; while several fine portraits from
the pencils of Da Vinci and Titian, judiciously hung above
the hbrary, for once seemed to glow with a less inviting
lustre.

The Nintli Morning came ; when Lisardo, after placing
before the circle a number of Portraits of eminent Book-
Collectors, whose libraries had been disposed of by auction
since they had last assembled, thus addressed his willing
audience with undiminished energy.

VOL. II.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS

TO VOL. 11.

PAGE LINE FOR READ

7 22 n. begnissime benignissime

9 10 n. iste liber liber iste : but qu.? see Panzer

in loc. cit.

22 18 ra. Qum Quam

78 1 n. our iour

82 9 n. 1599 1559

136 6 n. Poictiers Cressy

181 note. The name ' Paracelses' is first so spelt in the ' Life oi

Oporinus' here referred to. But it is usually, and
perhaps more correctly, spelt ' Paracelsus.' There
is an interesting note respecting this crazy-brained
man (rather than knave) in Mr. Gilford's edition
of Ben Jonson, vol, iv. p. 71.

196 3 Christian Christopher

198 3 The same correction to be made

N. B. After page 223, the numerals are incorrectly placed thus — 324, 325, for

224 and 225.
224 note, article 21 iEquje Aquae

239 3 n, whom who

,340 15 n. worked washed

360 2 n. Tiepi is put for opoi in a few copies, through an ac-

cident at the press.
406 last but one n. mortality life

493 In the Harleian Miscellany (new edit.) vol. iii. p. 496, there is an interesting
account of the ultimate fate of Cardinal Mazarin's Library — as well as of
the pains taken hy Naud6 towards its Collection.

.511 2 n. Sencer Spencer

fit V-^'

■ V ' ■ n'- A

A' K

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Full text of "The bibliographical decameron; or, Ten days pleasant discourse upon illuminated manuscripts, and subjects connected with early engraving, typography, and bibliography"

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